This Life Up Close, and Personal
by ChrissyB
Summary: This story is based on my RP OFC, Cassie and her life with the Toretto Team. Contains strong language, mild adult themes, sexual references/sex scenes and drug references.
1. Prologue

**Title: **_This Life Up Close, and Personal  
_**Rating: **_M (for language mostly, plus adult themes and drug references.)  
_**Time: **_Before the movie.  
_**Disclaimer: **_I don't own the movie, or anybody in the movie. I do own Cassie, please don't copy her. I'm not making any financial gain from this fic – don't sue.  
_**Summary: **_This is the story of my OFC, Cassie. She started out as a role-play character, but I wanted to explore her character more. This is just basically her life with the team.  
_**Note:** _This is my first REAL story that I've written – the only one I'm happy with. I started it about 2 years ago, so the chapters may be a little sketchy from the beginning but hopefully it gets better as my writing goes on. I love feedback so don't hesitate to tell me what you think. LOL.  
_**Note II: **_This story started as an independent, but as '**Reconciliation'** (joint fiction with onyxwaterfall) started to be written, concepts of this story showed in 'Reconciliation' (it was only loosely based on this story). If you read 'Reconciliation', 'This Life Up Close, and Personal' will just help you understand Cassie and her role in the Team.  
_**Note III: **_This story contains quite a bit of profanity, so be warned. It also contains some smut towards the middle, and drug and alcohol references throughout. If any of this offends you, please don't read – if you continue to read it, do so at your own risk. _

_Sorry, I'm a bit long winded with this bit, but I'm just trying to be thorough. Now on to the story. Enjoy._

* * *

**Prologue**

"Cassandra Imogen Margaret Dunn. Yup, that's my REAL name. Sad, huh? I think that's only half of it too." I sat precariously on the edge of the wall, I didn't want to get too close to him, and if I sat on the edge, I could run away easily. My feet were flat against the floor, keeping me steady, and I clasped my hands together leaning my elbows against my knees, slightly leaning forward.

"You didn't take my name?" He said, calmly, but still as though he was expecting something.

"Was I meant to?" I raised an eyebrow questioningly. Was he really expecting something from me?

He looked away to the cars parked in the lot. I really had hurt him, but I really didn't care. I looked at him. Observing the way he sat, what he was wearing and the way he carried himself.

He wore a black Armani suit, with black leather shoes which were obviously new and still hadn't been broken in. He had short grey hair, and was slightly thinning, but he kept it gelled back, and neat. I looked out of place sitting there, in my low riding Levi's which were worn out at the hems, my orange spaghetti top, piercings, tattoos and extremely long brown hair in a messy, last minute ponytail. He sat the same way I was sitting, legs apart to steady himself, leaned over slightly supported by his elbows with his hands clasped together.

"CASSIE! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!" His view shot over to Letty, who was leaning over a white metal fence.

"That's Letty, my best and longest friend. She's gonna be the best female mechanic one day" I looked over to Letty and smiled. Thinking about the years we'd been together, and all we'd been through.

"What kind of name is Letty?" He turned back to face me, and then looked back to Letty, studying her. I noticed him look her up and down, and scowl. But he tried his hardest not to show his abhorrence.

"It's _her_ name"

"It's a stupid name. Wait, did you say she's gonna be a mechanic? That's hard to believe" He snorted, rolling his eyes.

"Why's that?"

"Women can't be mechanics"

"Yes they can" I spat back.

"No, they can't. They're way too feminine for all that"

"You don't know Letty" We both watched Letty for a few seconds, noticing the way she held herself. She definitely was not like most other girls.

"I still don't understand why a parent would name their child Letty"

"Her real name's Leticia, we just call her Letty because it suits her more"

"Wait, Leticia? You mean Leticia Martinez?"

"Yeah...?" I raised my eyebrow and looked at him.

"She used to live down the street right? Her mother had that drinking problem"

"Ok, now you're scaring me. Have you been stalking me all my life?"

"No, I knew the family, that's how the two of you met"

"But, I met her through mum"

"How do you think your mum knew them? From me"

"CASSIE!" Letty yelled again and I stood up quickly.

"Ok, I really should go. It was ... uh ... nice to meet you" I said hesitantly, not knowing whether to shake his hand, give him a hug, or just walk away.

"We should do this more often" He said hopefully as I slowly turned to leave. I didn't answer him, just looked back and nodded a little. I definitely did not want to do this again.

………

That was 2 years ago, and I'd never heard from him since. I was glad in a way, but still I felt like something in my life was missing. I never knew my father, he left when I was 3, and then when I finally did meet him, we were strangers. I didn't know him, and he definitely didn't know me. I was glad I looked nothing like him, but I acted like him and I wanted to kill myself because of that. Whenever I wanted to forget about him I'd do something that would imitate his actions and then I'd be reminded of him all over again.

I still thought about him though. Thought whether things would have been different if my parents hadn't split or if I still kept in touch with him after he moved.

It was too late to think about those sorts of things. Even though I didn't have a family with him, and my mother had already passed away, I still had people who cared for me and that was more important to me.

I had been with the Torettos for as long as I could remember. We had grown up together, and couldn't be separated from each other.

I watched as everybody ate at the table. We sat outside at we always did, Dom serving his gourmet meal. Which was only barbequed meat, but he definitely cooked it the best. The music pumped from inside the house, a variety of rock and RnB. The sky was clear and blue as far as the eye could see.

We crowded the small wooden table, filling up every space. Dom at the head of the table, Letty sitting next to him, me sitting next to her with Mia on the other side, opposite Letty; Jesse sat next to Mia, with Leon next to him, and Vince opposite him, next to me.

These people were my family.

Food was everywhere. There were bowls of salad, casserole dishes filled with meat and sausages. Corona and soda bottles placed in the middle of the table, next to the basket of bread and other assortment of food. I laughed as I watched everybody grab their portion after we said blessings.

"What are you laughing at?" Dom asked, his voice playful and filled with curiosity.

"Me? I'm laughing at how much food you cook when you know we're not going to eat it all" I pointed out everything on the table.

"Of course we're gonna eat it" He laughed.

"Yeah..." I mocked him "...that's what you said last time" I put a selection of food on my plate and started eating.

Afterwards, while Mia, Letty and me cleaned up, the guys went to rent a movie. Mia washed, I dried and Letty put everything back.

"They were playing footsie under the table again" Mia said with a huge grin on her face. Letty looked to me and feigned shock.

"Who was?" I asked confused.

"You and Leon"

"What are you on about?" I said rolling my eyes. I could feel my face turning bright red.

"Look, she's blushing" Mia squealed.

"Oh c'mon, you really think we're that stupid? Especially when you kick poor Jesse—"

"That was an accident!"

"Yeah coz you were aiming for Lee" Letty snorted and waved the knife she was putting into the drawer around in the air. I rolled my eyes again and grabbed the plate Mia handed me, drying it off.

"You can think whatever you wanna think"

We heard the guys walk through the door and we all stopped talking immediately. Letty yanked the plate out of my hands and put it away with an evil smile on her face. I threw the rag at Letty's head and walked into the other room.

"What'd you guys get?"

"Some scary movie" Jesse took the video out and handed me the cover.

"The Ring?"

"Yeah, it's meant to be really freaky" Jesse seemed almost excited as he sat on the floor in front of the TV and made himself comfortable.

"Yo dawg, move over" Leon sat next to him, while Dom made himself comfortable on the one seater and Vince on the couch with his feet up on the table.

"I guess I'll go make the popcorn" I walked into the kitchen as Letty and Mia went into the living room.

I stuffed the bag into the microwave and grabbed some drinks, taking everything back when the popcorn was done. When I walked back into the living room, Mia had taken her seat next to Vince and Letty sat next to Mia with her legs propped up on Dom.

"Where am I supposed to sit?" I handed everybody a drink and slapped Letty's legs. "Go sit on Dom"

"I don't wanna sit on Dom. Sit on the floor" Letty stuck her tongue out and winked at me. I sighed and climbed over everybody, then finally flopping onto the floor next to Leon and Vince's legs. Leon wrapped his arm around my shoulders, and the next thing I knew I had fallen asleep with my head on his shoulder.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

I sat there and watched as Dom and three other cars drove past the finish line. Four colour blurs that only managed to last for 10 seconds, but could still produce the same amount of adrenaline, fear, and the same power surge as jumping off a cliff tied to a rope could. For those 10 seconds or less nothing moved. Nobody breathed. Time seemed to stop until that first car flew past. Then, before anybody knew what had happened, deafening screams could be heard, probably miles away. People cheered. Whooping, and clapping, and whistling for the driver in the winning car. No matter who it was, the crowd cheered the same tone, with the same enthusiasm. When they passed that line, everybody was everybody's friend.

To my left, Letty and Mia were hugging and jumping up and down. Dom had won another race. Yet they still acted like it was he'd never won in his life. I let out a grunt showing my amusement as I watched the hundreds of people cluster together and head towards the finish line, huddling around the four cars parked. Letty and Mia ran up as well, while I just sat and watched as Dom got out of the car, picking Letty up and twirling her around, then grabbing his 'pay' from Hector, and of course, as he embarrassed yet another racer who thought they could outrace, and outsmart the one and only Dominic Toretto. _When will they learn?_ I thought to myself as hopped off the hood of my car and walked around to the front window, pulling a cigarette from the centre compartment and balancing it in the corner of my mouth.

I pulled the lighter out and started winding it up, but only getting frustrated when the flame didn't pop up. "Aw, fucking c'mon" I shook the small bottle furiously and tried again. When I failed for a second time, I threw the lighter into the back seat of my car and looked around for somebody else who might have one with them.

I leaned in against the door and pulled the cigarette from my mouth, pinching it between my fingers while still scanning the area. When my eyes landed on Hector flailing his arms around in circles I went straight into panic mode. "Shit, cops"

I quickly turned around and got in my car yelling to Mia from the window to hurry up. "C'mon Mia! Get in here" She ran up to the door, yanking it open. "Don't pull it off its hinges Mi"

"The cops are gonna be here in a couple minutes and you're worried about your door" She got in the passenger seat and slammed the door shut.

I quickly started the engine and looked over to her, "well, if I don't have a door then I won't be able to leave"

Mia rolled her eyes as I quickly pulled out of the street. The cars looked like ants as they scattered out, pulling into different streets, splitting up as much as possible so they wouldn't get caught. _Like ants, all following the one in front one minute and as soon as there's a slight disturbance they scatter in different directions._ I kept driving straight, knowing the police never went through the highway because of the busy state it was always in. _A perfect getaway. _

My eyes kept scanning the mirrors, making sure nobody was behind me and that it was safe to go home. Mia kept fidgeting in her seat and looking to the road behind us.

"Don't worry Mia" I sighed as I turned off into the streets that lead to the Torettos.

"I'm not worried, why? Do I look worried? I'm not worried"

I laughed as I listened to her ramble on. "Ok Mia, you're not worried" As I pulled up into the empty driveway I heard Mia let out a relieved sigh.

"How do you get here so fast?"

"I know how cops work"

Mia looked over to me and raised her eyebrows questioningly.

"What's with that look?" _Shit, again with the Brian thing._ "Look Mi, I'm not a cop"

"Mmm" She quickly exited the car and walked up the driveway into the house. I watched as she turned the lights on in different rooms. I sighed and pushed my knuckles into the corners of my eyes to try and relieve some of the tension that was building up.

As I slowly pulled out of the driveway, I could hear the cars engines rumbling up the street. "Great" I mumbled as I watched Letty pull up next to the kerb, Leon right behind her. She got out of the car, hitching up her pants and biting her lip as she always did.

"Yo Cass, where the fuck do ya think you're going?"

"Home"

"Aww c'mon Cass, you know tonight's gonna be one hell of a party" Letty walked up to my car and leaned in through the window.

"Letty, I'm blocking traffic with you standing there, and I'm going home"

"Cassie," She mimicked, "The street's empty and you're coming in, at least stay for a drink" She protruded her lower lip and lowered her eyes so she looked like a small puppy who didn't know what they'd done wrong.

"C'mon Let, don't do that"

Letty started making whimpering sounds and her bottom lip was trembling. "Pwease? For me?"

"Jeez Let. Do you have to?" I sighed, knowing she wasn't going to give up. "OK, but only for a drink"

"Yup, sure. Only a drink" She said mockingly as she moved away from my car and ran up the driveway into the house.

I pulled back up into the driveway and parked my car, shaking my head as I did so.

………

By midnight, the party was already at full swing. After Letty and Leon got back, Jesse, Vince, Dom, and then about 100 other people showed up, respectively. Mia was still acting strange around me, and even though I tried talking to her a few times during the night, something always seemed to interfere.

I leaned against the doorframe scanning the room, watching everybody do their own thing. Letty sitting on Dom's lap playing the PS2, Vince in the corner showing off to some woman with too much make up, really bad hair extensions, and a skirt that rode halfway up her ass. Jesse was dancing with a girl he had met a few weeks after the team got back from Mexico. He was recovering well, and sometimes you couldn't tell that anything had even happened. Belinda was a little bit shorter than Jesse, with short blonde curly hair. She was studying psychology at the local university, and she really did care for Jesse. For the first time in a long time he was happy, and that made everybody else feel so much better.

I looked around the doorframe and saw Mia in the kitchen talking to a tall Latino guy. I shook my head, smiling, and looked back into the living room, my eyes landing on Leon. He too was with a girl with way too much make up, but this time she was the one showing off. By what I could see he was bored with what she was saying, but he kept up appearances by smiling and nodding, and taking a sip of his beer every so often, probably to make himself numb.

"HEY!" I heard Letty yell, followed by her laughter. I looked to her and Dom, who was now trying to wrestle the controller out of her hand.

"If you two are gonna wrestle, can ya at least do it upstairs?" Leon said sarcastically to Dom and Letty. His date didn't look too impressed that he had averted his attention from her, but he seemed more than happy to look away. Letty flipped him off and then turned back to Dom, taking the controller back from him and continued playing the game.

The last song faded, and Ja Rule's Murder Reigns started playing. This was definitely one of my favourite songs, but it reminded me too much of Jason, my ex. I looked down at the floor trying to concentrate on something else. Letty must have sensed what I was thinking because she got up and stood next to me, resting her head on my shoulder.

"It's ok Cass, don't worry about it"

I turned away, not wanting to let her see the anger and pain that was building up inside. "What's there to worry about? I'm fine" I turned to face her with a fake smile plastered on my face. She saw right through me.

"You have to stop living like this"

"I know, but ..." I trailed off, not exactly knowing what to say. _I have to get out of here._ "I should get going, I have to be up early" I grabbed my keys and kissed Letty on the cheek. "See ya later babe" I waved to the others quickly as I walked out the front door.

"See ya"


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

I leaned over the steering wheel of my car as I tried to fight the tears that were threatening to spill. _It was only a job interview, what the hell is wrong with you? There are so many others out there._ I took a deep breath in and closed my eyes, removing myself from my surroundings. Leaning back in my seat I looked out to the horizon, before I started my car and drove down to the Torettos.

It was only 10.30am, but there were still a few cars scattered around the street from last night. The party had obviously died down, and only empty corona bottles and a few hard liquor bottles were left on the lawn. The front door was wide open and I could see Dom sitting casually on the front steps. Behind him on the wooden bench, somebody who was passed out lay sprawled over the seat. He saw my car pull up and he smiled and raised his hand lazily trying to pass it off as a wave. I got out of the car and hopped up the stairs and sat next to Dom.

"Good morning. Sleep well?"

"Oh yeah, with the party still going on at 8 in the morning, I slept like a baby"

"Now you know why I leave early" I snorted and looked inside through the open door. When I saw five more people passed out on the floor, ladies underwear hanging off the stair railing and about a million more corona bottles lying around I couldn't help but burst out in laughter, leaning on Dom for support.

"What the hell are you laughing at?"

I pointed inside, trying to catch my breath. "THAT"

Dom turned to face the mess as well, and as soon as he saw the extent of rubbish there was his face seemed to drop. "I'm gonna have to clean that up"

"Oh my god, you will. I'd better get out of here before you ask me to help" I quickly got up and pretended to make a run for my car, but fell backwards back onto the stairs when Dom pulled the back of my shirt towards him.

"You're staying right here to help, at least clean up what mess you made"

I thought about it for a bit then smiled. "OK, I'll clean up the same amount of mess I made last night" I searched the porch for an empty corona bottle and picked it up, then threw it into the open rubbish bin. "I'd better be off now" I laughed as I clapped my hands together, like I was brushing the dust off them.

"You know what I mean"

"No I don't, I'm not as smart as Mr. Toretto" I mocked playfully.

Dom punched me playfully in the arm. "Be quiet"

I ran my fingers over my lips, as though I was zipping them closed and smiled playfully. Dom just shook his head; he was amused, but just too tired to laugh. I slapped my hand across his thigh, griping on it, and then pushing myself up off the stairs. "Where's Letty, Mr Clean?"

"Upstairs, still in bed" He placed his head in his hands, rubbing his eyes with his palms.

"Thanks" I bounded up the remaining stairs, slapping the back of Dom's head as I did. As I walked into the house, I looked around the hallway, down to the kitchen and across in the adjoining living room. "What a mess" I sucked in a breath through my teeth, the air feeling cool against my gums and slowly blowing it out, steadily shaking my head. There was one guy passed out at my feet, face down. Drool was hanging from his mouth, his hand still clutching onto an empty corona bottle as though he was gripping it for dear life. I resisted the urge to kick him.

Looking across to the living room again I saw two girls passed out on the couch, one on top of the other. I shifted my head to get a better look at their faces; it was the two girls Leon and Vince were with for most of the night. _The guys must have got one hell of a show last night._ I huffed in laughter, disturbing the guy at my feet. The urge was too strong. I slowly placed my foot under his shoulder and gave him a little push. When he just shifted slightly, mumbling incoherently, I did it again with a little more force almost causing him to roll onto his back. He still didn't move. _I don't think I want to fully roll him onto his back, he might choke and die._ I snorted and looked at the railing. A red lace g-string was placed precariously on the wooden ornament. If one small breeze was to come past, it would surely blow it off. I picked it up, pinching it between my index finger and thumb, and then dropped it onto the guy who was laying on the floor, rolled over halfway, making it land over his face. "Clean up after yourself you slob"

I shrugged and climbed the stairs as quickly as I could to get away from the mess downstairs. At the top of the stairs there were a few more empty bottles, but the mess wasn't as extreme as it was downstairs. For one, there were no people passed out on the floor.

I walked up to Letty's bedroom door and knocked lightly. No answer. Slowly I opened the door, the sound of the shrill creaking echoing around me. I didn't open the door any further and peeked inside to see if Letty was awake. When I saw her still lying in bed, staring at me with her middle finger up in the air I pushed the door open all the way.

"My, isn't everybody in such a chirpy mood today?"

"Fuck off"

"Not just yet, I need your help"

"Can it wait?"

"Eh. It can but it can't" I closed the door behind me and walked over to sit next to Letty on the bed.

"You're not a very patient person are you?" She groaned as I sat on the bed, causing the mattress to dip, taking her with it.

"You know I'm not" I smiled innocently, and pushed Letty slightly "C'mon get up, it's like 3pm"

"WHAT?" Letty shot up in bed, to an upright sitting position.

"Oh my God, Letty, relax ... jeez ... it's only like 11"

Letty punched my arm, and fell back onto the bed. She brought her hands up to her face and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes with her knuckles, letting out a yawn. "You're such a bitch, you know that"

"I learned from the best, now get up" I got up from the bed, as Letty rolled over to face the wall. "I'll go get the cold water" I said, as I sighed mockingly.

"Ok, I'm up ... I'm UP" Letty swung the covers off her body and slid herself off the bed, mumbling to herself. "Bitch" I made a kissing sound as I walked out of the room.

………

By the time Letty and me had gone downstairs, Dom had cleared out most of the mess.

"At least he got rid of the people who were passed out" I shrugged and followed Letty into the kitchen.

Sitting in a half-conscious state at the table was Vince and Jesse.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Letty grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge as I sat at the table, opposite Vince.

"You guys don't look so good. What happened last night?" I asked Vince and Jesse the question, but directed it more in Letty's direction seeing as those two were definitely not in a state to answer any questions.

Vince looked up at me, his eyes half closed. His breathing was low and almost non-existent. His eyes were puffy and red, with bags slightly appearing underneath them. Slowly he lifted his hand up to my face, pointing his finger at me.

"You ..." he started, his breath reeking of alcohol "... missed a hell of a party last night." _Obviously._

I rolled my eyes and mimicked his actions, bringing my hand up to his face, pointing one of my fingers at him, "You ... really need to brush your teeth."

Vince dropped his raised hand over mine, pushing it to the table, slamming my knuckles against the hard surface. _OW!_ "You ..." he started again, "... need to tell him."

I raised my eyebrows questioningly. "I need to tell who, what?"

Letty walked up and sat next to Vince at the table, patting him on the back. "Here we go again" She sighed. I heard Jesse giggle next to me.

"What? Why? Who?"

"He's been doing that all night" Jesse said before he let out a loud hiccup, followed by a giggle. It was the first time I'd heard Jesse speak in two days. His speech was slow and slurred. He too reeked of alcohol.

Vince huffed in frustration and pointed at me again, this time poking me on the shoulder. "YOU!"

"Yeah V, I get that part ..."

"NEED to tell HIM!" He emphasised the words 'need' and 'him' by dragging the words out.

"V," I started slowly, "Who, is him?"

Vince rested his hand lazily under his chin and sighed. "Don't act all stupid with me missy. You know I'm talking about who!" He glared at me, and I couldn't help but laugh at his mixed up sentence. He opened his mouth to say something more, but Dom walked through the door before his attempt.

"Oh, so he found his next victim" Dom came and sat on one of the free stools.

"Next victim? Ok I really should stay at the party's just so I know what's going on the next morning"

Letty chuckled and finished her bottle of water. "He was bugging all of us last night saying we need to tell somebody something ... we still don't know what he's talking about"

"I was not buggin' ... I was jus' statin' the fact tha' she should tell him she likes him, an' he should get over himself and tell her that he likes her" he pointed to me again, pointing out that I was the 'she' "... and all of you's ..." he waved his hand around in the air above his head "... should see that ... and tell em that"

_Riiiiiiight._

Letty shook her head and looked to Dom. He nodded and stood up, extending his hands out from his body, and intertwining his fingers, cracking his knuckles; the cracking echoing through the small room. "C'mon V, you're goin' to bed, ma' man"

Vince slapped his hands on the table, palms down and stood up. "You talkin' to me asshole?"

"Yeah DeNiro, let's go" Dom pinched Vince by the back of the neck and dragged him upstairs. With Jesse hot on their heels.

Both Letty and I watched them as they walked off; silently waiting for some reassurance that they had indeed gone to bed. The room was quiet for a minute or two, before we heard two loud thuds come from the room directly above us; Vince's room. Our eyes quickly shot to the ceiling, as though we would be able to see through the thick layer of concrete somehow. We waited for any other noises.

When nothing came, we both shrugged and looked at each other.

"So, what do you need my help with?"

I sighed and shifted my feet slightly. Letty knew something was wrong straight away. The way her eyes played over mine showed it.

"Cass? What's up chica?" She leaned forward in her seat and placed her hands on the table.

"It's nothing big. Really. Just, my dad's invited me to some dinner he's got planned"

"What? What kind of dinner?" She was becoming angry and was raising her voice, irritation surging through the words.

I shrugged slightly and played with my fingers in my lap, letting my eyes drop to the floor. "Some dinner, with some people from where he works"

"So why's he calling you?" Letty scoffed "I mean, why NOW? You haven't heard from him since that time at the café"

I shrugged again, more nervous about the whole situation, and feeling like I wanted to cry. "I think he wants to offer me a job." I could feel my eyes and cheeks begin to burn; the feeling sending my body into a downward spiral. I suddenly felt overwhelmed and I felt weak; out of control.

Letty brought her hands up to my face and ran her fingers along my cheeks. I didn't know I had actually been crying until I saw the water on her finger.

"You don't have to go. You know that don't you?"

I nodded and brought my eyes back up to face Letty. It was then I knew she truly cared for me. My pain was being reflected back at me through her ebony eyes, and I could see she was feeling my pain. She brought her hands down to cover mine, over my lap. The warmth she was emitting instantly making me feel safe.

I tried to speak, my voice becoming stuck in my throat. "I ... know that I don't have to go," I took a deep, jagged breath, "but I feel like I should go"

"I'm not going to argue with you. I know the consequences of that," we both chuckled, lightening up the atmosphere a little "but then, why do you need my help?"

"I need some reassurance that everything's going to be ok, and ... well, I don't know what to wear."


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

I gave myself a once over in the mirror before I left; smoothing out the material with my left hand and pushing a bobby pin further into my hair with my right.

The dress that Letty and I picked out was beautiful. Sleek, elegant and absolutely gorgeous. The jet black material clung at my hips and flowed freely at my feet. Mia had done my make up; light and natural, accentuating my eyes, using a dark eye-shadow.

"Are you finished yet?" Mia yelled from the other side of the door, "You're going to be late"

"So what if I'm late?"

Silence.

"Exactly."

I heard shuffling, and mumbling coming from outside, before Letty burst through the door.

"Are you ready?"

I picked up the small black bag and sighed. "Yup. It's now or never." I quickly rushed out the door, before I changed my mind.

"You want to take these with you?" Letty jangled my keys in the air, causing me to turn around and giggle nervously.

"Yeah, I think I'll need them" She handed me my keys and we walked downstairs.

I could hear the TV blaring from in the living room, and stopped halfway down the stairs, grabbing Letty by the arm and pulling her towards me. "Can you like, distract them, or move them into the kitchen?" I pleaded to her.

She just laughed and pulled me down the rest of the stairs. Only Dom was in the living room, sprawled out on the couch. One leg resting up on the back and the other falling off the couch, onto the floor. He didn't notice when Letty and I walked into the hallway.

There was mumbling coming from the kitchen and we knew straight away that it was the rest of the guys.

I pulled Letty towards me again and whispered to her, "I'm getting out of here before anybody comes out and sees me." Letty laughed again, this time getting Dom's attention. _Crap._

He turned the TV down and I saw him eye me up and down. "Cassie?"

"Yeah. Hi Dom. Bye Dom. Bye Letty" I grabbed the door handle and tried opening the door, but Mia snuck up behind me and shut the door again. "Mia, I'm going to be late" I whined.

"So what if you're late?" She mimicked my previous actions. I just glared at her and tried opening the door, again with no luck.

There was a booming laugh from the kitchen and I turned to face Vince, Leon and Jesse walking towards us.

"Holy crap! Cass? Is that really you?" Jesse stopped mid-step, obviously shocked by what he saw.

"Nah! I'm the reincarnation of the virgin Mary" I rolled my eyes, and pushed Mia's hand off the door.

Vince snorted, amused, and lifted up the beer he was holding to me. "Yeah, but you're no virgin."

I grabbed the bottle and took a sip. The cool liquid sliding down my throat. Vince walked up to me and wrapped his arm across my shoulders. "Ya clean up good Cass."

"Thanks," I said sarcastically as I shrugged him off, "keep your eau de stench of me, Vince"

I smoothed out my dress again, more out of nervousness rather than making sure the dress was sitting properly. The attention that I was getting now was not something I was used to and I definitely wanted to get out of there.

I looked around the room again. Jesse was still shell shocked, his features frozen, and Leon was just standing next to Vince quietly. His lips were slightly parted in an Oh-My-God, shocked expression and his eyes played over my body, slowly.

Dom whispered something to Letty and I heard a car horn outside, before she grabbed my hand and pulled me out the door with her. I heard the guys say 'good luck' to me as I left but I didn't respond. I sighed and resisted the urge to run back into bed and curl up into a ball.

Letty stopped when she saw the Limo parked in front of the house. "He sent you a limo?"

"Yeah, he wanted me to 'show up in style'" I said sardonically.

As we walked to the limo, Letty pulled me closer to her into a hug. "You know, you really do look good."

"Thanks babe"

"Be careful ok." We both sighed as I got in the back of the limo and it drove off.

………

The limo pulled up next to the large building, and one of the men standing at the front of the building opened the door for me. It felt strange to receive this kind of treatment; never was I used to having somebody open the door for me, or be nice ... unless they wanted something.

He extended his hand and I reluctantly placed my hand in his, as he helped me out of the car. A cool breeze hit my face, and I shivered slightly and wished I had something warm to cover myself with.

"Thanks" I mumbled as I walked into the lobby.

I looked up at the ceiling, almost getting lost in its beauty. It was adorned by a large crystal chandelier that dropped down, suspended by thick, gold wire. As the light shined through the crystals, the various colours of the rainbow hit the cream coloured walls. I seemed to trance out, watching the colours move around the walls; as the crystals moved with the slight breeze came from outside.

I could feel a hand grab my elbow, and drag me away, but I was too transfixed on the chandelier. When my mind finally realised what was happening I spun my head to face my father, dragging me further into the hall. There were more people gathered here and the sound everybody talking at once made my ears ring.

"Who are all these people?" I said, yanking my arm away from my dads grip, and stopping to smooth out the creases in my dress.

"Associates."

"Who the hell in their right mind would want to associate with you?"

He shot a warning glare at me, trying to scare me. I giggled at his lame attempt and walked over to the small bar in the corner, and called to the waiter. He raised his hand to signal he'd be there in a minute and I turned around, once again facing my dad.

"Don't you want to associate with your associates?"

"I'd like to introduce you to a few people."

"Will I have to be nice to them?"

He sighed and shook his head slightly.

"I'll take that as a yes"

The waiter came around and I ordered a drink. He brought me the drink twice as fast when he saw my dad's red face.

"Jeez, will you relax. I need a drink to calm me down a bit. What, don't tell me you don't drink?" I knew he drank, I'd seen photos of him from years ago, when he was happily married to my mother and they threw parties. He always had an alcoholic drink in his hand, and could drink anybody under the table, or so I heard.

"Just don't embarrass yourself."

I raised an eyebrow knowing exactly what he meant. _Don't embarrass ME._ I opened my mouth to say something when we were greeted by a man, probably one of the 'associates'. He was small and lanky; only about 5'6, shorter than me, and skinny. His bowtie was larger than his head and his suit looked like it cost him a few hundred dollars, but it didn't fit him like it should. He eyed me up and down, smiled slyly, and extended his hand towards me.

"Jonathan Kelpps. Junior Executive. And you are?"

_About to kick you where the sun don't shine!_ I forced a smile onto my face and shook his hand. "Cassandra Dunn."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." He brought my hand up to his lips and kissed it lightly. I felt my stomach turn and I quickly retrieved my hand. He smiled and looked to my father. "She's a feisty one."

"She sure is." He looked to me and smiled through clenched teeth. I sighed and took a large sip of my drink, hoping this would end soon.

Jonathan turned to me again, still smiling slyly. "Your father says you'd be a great asset to this business. Have you thought about his proposition yet?"

"Proposition?" I looked to my father who was standing, looking at Jonathan bug eyed. "What proposition?"

"Uhh ..." He quickly excused us and dragged me into one of the back rooms in the hall. "I was going to ask you later on tonight, after you felt more comfortable, if you'd like to work for me."

"Work for you doing what exactly?"

"Well, you'd take over the business after I resign."

I stood there for a second, contemplating what that meant. When he left, I'd take over the business. A business I knew nothing about.

"Of course you'd have to make a few changes in your life." He said, as though it wasn't a big thing at all. "First we'd have to go on a trip to New York to get you acquainted with my business partners, and then you'd have to leave those people that you _hang around_ with." He waved his hand in front of him in a 'and that's that' sort of manner.

I blinked, waiting for what he just said to fully register in my mind. "Wait a minute. I don't care how appealing going to New York sounds, but I'm not leaving 'those people'. They're like family to me."

"No they're not. They're just a group of bums who can't find a decent job. You're better than them."

I felt my blood boil, and I knew my face was turning red. "Is that why you came back? So you could try and change me and paw me off to those assholes out there?"

He looked at me through dark eyes, scaring me right down to my bones. I crossed my arms across my chest, hoping to make myself look as though I wasn't intimidated by him.

"You're going to ruin your life! If you come and work for me, you'll have a great future ahead of you."

"It's my life. I can do whatever I want. And who are you to tell me what to do, and who I can spend my time with?"

"I'm your father."

"I wouldn't give a fuck if you were the king of England."

Before I knew what had happened, I felt the sharp pain against my cheek, and the pain surge through my neck as is snapped back and to the side.

I shifted my head back to face him. He was just as angry as I was; his jaw clenched, and his eyes black and soulless. I swallowed hard, trying to keep myself from doing something stupid.

"You know, I'm glad I never got to know you," I said, balling up my fists. I quickly turned and headed out the door.

"If you leave now, you'll never get a second chance. Imagine what you could have, how successful you would be."

"Unlike you, I don't give a shit how successful I am, or how much money I own" I slammed the door behind me and pushed past all the people.

My chest began to hurt, as though something was being pushed against it. My breath began to speed up, as did my heart; the beats pounding in my head, and thumping against my chest. I held my hand to my chest, hoping my heart wouldn't jump out. It was then I realised I had been running. Running away from what I could have become; running from my father.

I stopped and looked around. It was just darkness around me. The road was empty, with only little spots of road illuminated by a few street lights, and the only things around were the moths and various bugs that were attracted to the light source. I turned to look back at the building. It was still visible; the lights flowing out of the windows, and silhouettes of people standing by them.

_What now?_ Where was I to go now? How was I meant to get home? I was picked up by a limo, and that was how I planned on getting back.

My hands were shaking now, and I tried my best to stop them; taking deep breaths and telling myself to calm down. Nothing was working. The more I tried to calm down, the harder my heart beat against my chest. Still struggling, I rummaged through my bag and called the only person I knew I could rely on.

………

I had already pulled the pins out of my hair, and my shoes sat beside me as I sat against the cold brick wall. My stockings were starting to tear around my feet and I was certain I looked like crap.

I wiped away the last of tears as I heard the car screech around the corner. Even in the darkness, I could see the sunshine yellow shape coming towards me. I grabbed my shoes and slowly got up, stumbling slightly and forcing myself to hold on to the wall for support.

Leon stepped out of the car and looked at me, his face plastered with worry. My face fell and I looked at my hands that were still trembling. My bag straps seemed to be the only things that were able to calm me, even for a second, as I played around with them between my fingers.

My eyes started to burn again and I quickly closed them, forcing the tears that threatened to spill to stay put. I felt rather than saw Leon's presence in front of me, before he pulled me closer to him and I started crying again.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

I lay in bed staring at the painted black ceiling. The sun shone through the small window above my bed, its rays of white illuminating the settling dust in the air as it lit up the red wall opposite me.

There was movement upstairs and the random clink of bottles being thrown around could be faintly heard. The guys were cleaning up the aftermath of last night's party. If I waited another 10 minutes I would be able to get out of cleaning, unfortunately, if I waited another 2, I'd probably go crazy from the millions of thoughts running through my head.

I slid my legs off the bed and pushed myself up, grabbing on to the bed post to stop my groggy form from collapsing. I sighed loudly in the under-furnished room and padded my way through the small corridor towards the bathroom. The uncarpeted concrete floor under my feet was ice cold, and the musty scent of last nights beer and sex lingered throughout. Both Leon's and Jesse's doors were open slightly, whereas Vince's door was fully closed, as was the bathroom door. I reached out and twisted the handle, only to find it locked. I did a mental eye roll and slammed my palm, flat against the already dented wooden door.

"Yo, who's in there?" I said, trying the handle again. The disgruntled whine that came as a reply told me it was Jesse.

"Not much of a morning person," I mumbled to myself, smiling slightly, knowing Jesse probably had an excessive amount of alcohol and was probably clutching to the toilet bowl heaving his poor soul out.

"Who in this house is?" Vince's low rumble behind me caused me to jump and spin around.

"Don't DO that!" I clutched my chest with one hand as though I had a heart attack, and punched him in the shoulder with the other. He laughed and took a step back to steady himself from my shove.

"Watch it girly, not all of us slept as well as you probably did last night."

I stared at Vince with my brow raised and turned to walk off when there was a shuffling behind the bathroom door and it swung open. Jesse popped his head out, looking slightly flushed; his eyes red, puffy and him looking quite shocking overall.

"Had too much to drink again, bro?" Vince leaned against the wall behind him with his arms crossed across his chest, and chuckled.

Jesse groaned and looked at me with almost pleading eyed. "I think you should use the upstairs bathroom."

I smiled and ruffled up his hair, eliciting another groan from him. He closed the door and it clicked locked again. I turned around to face Vince again and shook my head, amused; he rolled his eyes still smiling.

"So, what's the damage up there?" I motioned towards the stairs leading into the upstairs main hallway.

Vince shrugged and slipped his hands into his jeans pockets. "Haven't gone up yet. Kept thinking the longer I stay in bed, the less I'll have to clean up."

"Then why are you up?"

"The same reason you're up; couldn't sleep." We both chuckled quietly. Vince looked at me up and down and gave and approving smirk. "How'd it go last night?"

My heart stopped in my chest. I knew I'd be asked that question sooner or later today, but I still hadn't thought of something to say. Vince looked at me, waiting for an answer, but I tried to avoid the question quickly. "I should get up there before Letty comes down to look for me." I smiled a blatantly obvious fake smile and ran up the stairs into the kitchen before Vince had time to say anything.

Mia was already at the stove whipping up something to eat, with Letty sitting on the counter top next to her yammering away. Leon sat at the kitchen bench with his head down, reading a magazine, twirling his car keys around his finger and was humming to the music that was coming from the living room. Dom was holding a large black plastic garbage bag, that made clinking noises as he walked, making it clear that it was filled with empty bottles. From what I could see, they had already cleaned most of the mess, and were just starting to enjoy the day. Dom picked up the last piece of garbage in the kitchen and threw it in the bag. He saw me and nodded his hello before he walked out the back door, slinging the bag over his shoulder.

"Cassie! What's up girl?" Letty screamed with joy when she noticed me standing there. Her face lit up with excitement, waiting for me to spill everything that happened the night before. She hopped off the bench and leaped towards me, slinging her arm across my shoulders and pulling me towards her. Mia looked at me with just a big a smile that Letty had on her face, also gleaming with anticipation.

I heard Leon shift in his seat as he tried to keep his focus on the magazine, or something other than the conversation that was about to happen. He was almost as nervous as I was, and I could sense it. I did a mental grimace and forced a weak smile onto my face.

"Uh ... I ... not much ... happened ..." I trailed off as I looked over to Leon who was now hunched over in the seat, staring blankly at his keys.

Letty took a step back and eyed me up and down. She raised a brow and looked at me dead in the eyes.

"What?"

"What happened last night? Why are you pausing? Why do you look kinda ... different"

I laughed nervously and walked over to the fridge and pulled out a soda bottle. "How do I look different?"

Letty looked me over again and smiled. "Well, for one, that's not your shirt." She said, waggling her brows.

I looked down at what I was wearing, and saw I was definitely not wearing one of my shirts, but a black men's t-shirt; Leon's. When Leon had got back to the house after everything that had happened the night before, there was no way I would have been able to get to my room without being seen by somebody. Leon had offered to let me stay in his room and I had taken one of his shirts. Later on, after the party had died down I snuck back into my room. I was mentally kicking myself for not getting changed after I had woken up.

Letty jumped towards me and grabbed the hem of the shirt and tried to pull it up.

"HEY! HEY! What are you trying to do?" I said laughing, and trying to pull away from her grabbing hands.

"Making sure you're wearing underwear. C'mere!" She grabbed me by the waist and pinned me up against the fridge. I could hear Mia laughing behind Letty, and she was soon joined by Dom who had walked in to the chaos.

"Damn Letty, it you wanted to jump Cassie, you could at least wait until the two of you are alone." Dom said between laughing spurts.

Letty spun her head around and gave Dom a warning glare, before facing me again. She lifted up the shirt, smiled and let me go. "Well, damn, I was hoping for a good story today," she shrugged and grabbed the soda bottle I was still holding and took a swig, "whose shirt is that ... it looks familiar." She scrunched up her face as the words passed through her mind.

I pulled at the shirt, biting my lip as I thought of what I would say. "There was some ... trouble last night." I paused and watched Letty's reaction. She blinked a few times as the words registered. I took a deep breath and continued, "I came back early, and I didn't want to be seen so I snuck into Leon's room ... after he came to get me." Letty's jaw clenched as she turned to look at Leon who was looking up at me. Everybody was silent in the room. I looked around at everybody quickly. Dom was sitting at the table with his arms crossed over his chest, staring silently at me. Mia was looking between Dom and Letty, waiting to see which one of them would react first.

There was some shuffling from the room behind us and Vince and Jesse walked in. They took one look around the room and straight away knew something was off.

Letty clenched her fists and I saw her take a deep breath before she looked back to me. She grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from the kitchen, and out the front door. The door slammed closed behind us, and we both walked further out onto the lawn.

"What happened last night?" Letty grabbed my wrist and pulled me down onto the lawn. She crossed her feet under her as she sat across from me. I did the same and sighed.

"He offered me a job," I pulled a blade of grass out from the soil and played with it in my fingers. "But there's a catch; I have to go to New York ... and I'd have to cut off all contact with you." I said flatly and straight to the point. The more I said in the least amount of words, the quicker the conversation would end.

Letty turned her head and focused on something on the other side of the road. "Did you take it?"

"No, of course not."

Letty smiled weakly and looked back at me. "Did you at least think about it?"

I shrugged and looked down at the grass in my hands. "I kinda did, somewhere between New York and me having to cut you out of my life completely. But, I made my final choice when he slapped me."

There was a slight pause before she burst out. "He did WHAT!" She waved her arm around above her head, "I'm gonna kill that fuck. Who does he think he is?"

"Letty. Letty. Calm down. Relax, please." I grabbed her arms and pinned her wrists to the floor in an attempt to get her to calm down.

"How can you tell me to relax? How can you be so calm?" She said quietly.

"What am I gonna do, Let? Seriously. I'm weak and he can do so much damage."

"Fuck him," she grumbled under her breath. "Well then, what do we do now?"

"Now, we forget about him. Forget he ever existed and get on with our lives."

"That's going to be easier said than done" I just nodded and gave Letty a reassuring smile that things would be ok. "Why'd you call Le? I mean, why not Mia, or Jesse, or Vince, Dom, or me?"

"Because, I knew how you'd react. Exactly like you just did; you'd shout and probably end up throwing punches. Same with Dom; nobody would get out of there alive if Dom went," I shook my head, smiling at the thought of how much they would do if somebody hurt me, "and Vince, who knows what, or who he would be doing. Jesse wouldn't have known what to do, and he'd have probably freaked and told one of you guys which would lead us back to my first point. And Mia, well, Mia would ask a lot of questions and she'd worry. Le's the calm one out of everybody. I knew he'd come, no questions asked, and he wouldn't cause a scene." I finished with a smirk.

"Ok. Good enough reason."

As we finished up, we heard the flyscreen door creak open. We both turned to face a very serious looking Vince. He shuffled his feet a bit and scratched the back of his neck. He motioned towards the house and shuffled in the spot a bit more, "Cass, there's somebody on the phone for you."

"Who is it? Can it wait?" Both Letty and I stood up and brushed the back of our pants off.

Vince did a shrug and nodding motion, "I really think you should take it." He took a deep breath and headed back inside.

I looked at Letty and shrugged and we both quickly headed inside. Everybody was sitting in the kitchen doing there own thing as Dom handed me the phone.

………

I hung up the phone and stared blankly at it, in pure shock. I took in a deep breath and thought about what I had just heard, and took time to register it. Letty's hand rested on the small of my back as she asked me what had happened. I looked up at her, still in shock.

"I have to go to the hospital." I whispered, to nobody in particular; but more as a realisation.

"What? Why?"

I swallowed hard and looked up at Letty. "My dad's there. He had a heart attack."


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

I sat hunched low in the uncomfortable, plastic hospital chair, my leg bouncing up and down rapidly against the floor, and my thumb in my mouth with my teeth grazing against the hard nail. Letty paced back and forth in front of me, mumbling incoherently to herself; obviously debating the reasons for her to be here. She waved her hands around every so often as she sized up her reasons.

My eyes darted between Letty, the nurses behind the desk who seemed so relaxed and calm, and the main doors to the ER room. The hazy drone of music hummed in the large waiting area, the stereo tuned in to the radio. Other people sat with us; maybe 5 people, seated randomly. They were all lost in their own thoughts, seated as nervously as I was.

"Letty, go home. You don't have to be here." I hadn't realised I said it until she looked at me and raised her brow. We both knew I wouldn't be able to sit there alone, yet I knew that if she kept pacing the way she did, I would have forced her to leave whether I needed her or not.

"Sorry. I don't even know why I'm nervous." She sat on the empty seat next to me and looked straight ahead, letting out a long sigh in attempts to calm herself down. "You're the one who should be nervous." She pulled her feet up on the seat and wrapped her arms around her knees and glanced over to me.

I did a pathetic shrug and leaned my head against the back of the chair. I heard Letty shuffle in her seat, before I felt her legs on my lap.

"Just making myself comfortable"

I looked at her and laughed as she crossed her ankles on my lap.

"So..." she started, trailing off slightly "...how long do you think we'll have to wait here?"

"I dunno. The nurse is giving us dirty looks, so I don't think we'll go anytime soon."

Both Letty and I glanced over at the nurse typing away behind the front desk.

"Screw her," Letty scoffed and slumped lower.

"I rolled my eyes and shifted in the seat. "If we don't get to go in, in the next 10 mins," I said and looked at my watch, "we're goin' home."

"Hmmm. And what about your dad?"

"Eh" I mumbled and shrugged.

There was a period of silence between Letty and me as we watched the other people around us. I saw Letty staring at me from the corner of my eye and turned to look at her. "What?"

"Move in"

"What!"

"Move in"

"Move in, where?"

"With us." She shifted and sat up straight in the seat, "I mean, c'mon, you're already like family. Not to mention you already have your own room downstairs where the guys are, and you spend more time there than you do in that shithouse you spend a fortune in rent on. That, and you'll always have us around if--"

"Letty," I cut her off, "I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Why the hell not?"

"Because, it just isn't. What if something happens between us? What about the other guys? You already have an overload of people living there."

"We'll get over it, we always do. And the others don't mind. We've already talked about it. And you're right, there's a shitload of people living there, so what's one more?"

"What about the stuff I already own?"

"You can sell it, and save up the money. Or put it in storage."

"What if--"

"I have an answer for every question you have, Cass. It'll be easier to just move in."

I sighed and scratched the back of my neck subconsciously. "I dunno, Let ..."

"C'mon Cass." She moved closer to me, and made a baby face at me. "Last night, after all that shit, you came straight to our place, rather than goin home. Knowing that Leon would be more than happy to drive you there. Isn't that sayin something?"

"I'll think about it." I said finally, with a long sigh. Letty grinned, showing her happiness.

Suddenly, the doors to the ER swung open, and a tall man dressed formally, calmly walked out. He looked straight at Letty and me, and started walking over.

I nudged Letty and she turned back around on the seat, and went into protective mode.

"Cassandra Dunn?" He extended his hand as he stood in front of me.

"Who's askin?" I looked up at him, but didn't move an inch.

"Are you, or are you not?"

"Yeah, I am." I said in a slightly forceful tone, and gesturing for him to get on with it.

He dropped his hand when realising I wouldn't accept it. "I'm Max Hany. I work for your father. He wanted me to come out and see if you were here."

"Does he want me to come in?"

"Um ..." he paused for a second, and shifted his eyes away from mine.

"He doesn't want me to come in." I said, more as a statement rather than a question. "Fine. I don't care. Let, let's go." I got up, followed by Letty and we headed out the door.

Max quickly headed out after us, as he tried to apologize. "Look, I'm sorry about that. I don't make the news, I just deliver it."

"Don't apologize, please." I turned around and crossed my arms across my chest. "Just tell him that when something else happens to him, make sure I'm not called, so I don't have to waste my time waiting for no reason. Frankly, I just don't care anymore. I don't know why I did in the first place." I spun back around, and headed straight to the car, not letting Max get another word in.

When I got to the car, Letty was already waiting, her car roaring, ready to go. I got in and she sped out of the lot.

"You ok, babe?"

"Yeah. Could be better though."

"Do you wanna go straight home?"

I looked over to her and smiled, "Is that a trick question?" She grinned again and I shook my head. "I dunno. I just wanna take my mind off it."

"OK. I got the perfect thing for that. We're goin out tonight."

"Sounds good."


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Letty and I were both ready and waiting for Mia. We had invited Belinda over, and her and Mia were getting along well. We had learned that Mia's college was close to Belinda's university, so they usually met up in the afternoons and walked to the garage together.

Letty sat on the couch, arms folded, with one leg crossed over the other, and both of them bouncing up and down.

"What the hell is taking her so long?" She was obviously becoming impatient. Letty was wearing her favourite black leather skirt, a caramel coloured, spaghetti tank top she stole from me and a pair of black lace-up boots. Her make up was minimal, almost non existent, and her hair was pulled up away from her face. Overall, she spent about 5 minutes getting ready.

"Not all of us can do nothing and still look as beautiful as you do naturally, Let." I chuckled, ducking the pillow she flung at my head.

"Hey. Watch it!" Dom boomed from behind me. I turned around and grabbed the pillow off him.

"Letty did it!"

"Bitch." Letty snapped from behind me.

I turned back to Letty and threw the pillow back at her. "Stop talking about yourself, Let. We're all starting to get worried over here." She just stuck her tongue out at me in reply.

"What are you doin just sitting here anyways?" Dom questioned, gesturing to us all dressed up.

"We're waiting for Mia."

"Why?"

"None of your business." Letty spat out at Dom, who just raised his brow at her. She replied once again by just sticking her tongue out at him.

"Is that your reply for everything?" Dom responded.

Let scowled at him and looked to the staircase. "C'mon Mia! We're waiting for you."

Suddenly we heard laughter from upstairs and the sound of feet stamping against the stairs.

"Finally." Letty jumped up, grabbed her keys and the coats, throwing mine at me and almost ran out of the door.

We all said our goodbyes to Dom and ran after her.

………

We pulled up in front of the club and headed in. Letty walked far in front, and Mia and Belinda followed Let, giggling the whole time. I, on the other hand kept to myself, at the back. The only thing running through my mind was, keeping thoughts of what happened that day out.

As we walked through the door, the smell of sweat and cigarette smoke hit us first, before the distinct smell of alcohol filtered through. The sound of music surrounded us, pumping the latest Urban Dance sounds. We pushed our way through the bodies and found an empty table at the back of the club. One of the waitresses cleared off the old bottles that were around, and got our drinks.

Letty bounced her head to the music and watched the people on the dancefloor. As Mia and Belinda left the table, I shuffled over closer to Let.

"What's up with you and Dom?" I shouted over the music.

"What do you mean?"

"You just seemed a bit off with him earlier."

"Oh, that was nothing. We just had a little heated discussion before."

"About?"

"Nothing important." She took a sip of her drink and got up, mouthing the word 'bathroom' as she walked off. I sighed and leaned back against the seat.

"Yo, stranger." I felt his breath on the back of my neck before I heard him speak. His familiar voice making me smile.

"Hey man. What you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question." Vince took a seat next to me, grabbing Letty's drink.

"I wouldn't do that."

"Why?"

"It's Let's drink."

He quickly put the drink back on the table. "So ... what you guys doing here?"

"Just getting out. You?"

He shrugged and scanned the club. "Jess called me. Sayin some shit about how I had to see this shit. I can't say no to the lil' man." He shrugged again and grabbed my drink instead. I smiled and shook my head, slightly amused.

Vince drained my drink and let out a sigh of approval, before leaning back in the seat, stretching out his arms against the back.

The DJ flipped records and mixed in a new song. As Christina Milian sang her tunes to 'Hands On Me', the crowd on the dancefloor cheered and whooped; the women quickly grabbed their men and grinded down against their bodies.

"Why aren't you out there? I mean, you're just sittin' here alone, when you should be havin' some fun." Vince smirked as he looked over to me, then gesturing over to the dancefloor.

"I ain't got no-one to dance with."

Vince clutched his hand to his chest and pretended to be hurt. "You cut me Cass. Cut me real deep." He shook his head sadly and sighed deeply. I just laughed.

"Where are the guys? Weren't they the one's to call you?"

Vince looked at me, giving me a 'I haven't got a fucking clue what they're up to' look and a slight shrug. I saw his eyes shift to something behind me and I looked over my shoulder. I quietly mumbled a frustrated, "not again" before getting up and running over to Letty, picking another fight at the back of the club.

I quickly grabbed her wrist that was up in the air, ready to come flying down on the woman she had in a tight grip under her, desperately trying to pull her off.

"You fucking bitch! You ain't got nothing on me. Stupid ho!" She screamed to the girl, still on the floor in shock. She tried her best to wriggle out of my grip, but Vince had run up next to me and was holding her back as best he could. Letty kept kicking and screaming, swinging her hands around trying to get another hit.

"Letty! Back off." I yelled in her face, trying to get her to calm down. It hadn't worked. She kept kicking and had just missed my leg.

I turned around to the girl she was trying to attack. She had stood up, and was dusting her skirt off, as though nothing had happened; with a cocky smirk on her face. Two other girls had come to stand by her side, they too with the same smirks on their faces.

"What the fuck you smiling at? Fucker. You're gonna get such a bitch slapping!" Letty continued, as Vince tried harder to keep her at bay, having great difficulty.

"Why don't you tell your friends to back off. Come and get it." The girl put her hands on her hips and raised her nose in the air, provoking Letty.

I looked to Vince and smiled. He raised a brow at me before letting Letty go; she dived straight for the girl, punching her straight in the jaw, knocking her to her to the floor again. "Stupid bitch." She spat again, before kicking her once in the waist and turning around, walking straight past us. I quickly followed after her, looking out for Mia and Belinda.

Two security guards approached us, and we both stopped in our tracks. Letty looked up at them and gave them a 'what do you want?' look, putting her hands on her hips and shifting her weight to one leg.

"We're sorry ladies, but we're going to have to ask you to leave."

"Yeah, we were just leaving." Letty said as she pushed past them and headed towards the door. Vince caught up behind us, gesturing that I had better go after Letty, while he looked for Mia and Belinda. I quickly thanked him and ran after Letty again.

I found her in the car park, leaning up against the car, with her arms crossed across her chest, and one leg crossed over the other. She was looking out into the distance with a frustrated look on her face. As I approached her, she looked up at me, sighed and looked down to the floor.

"I was expecting you to drive away."

She shrugged and looked at her feet as she moved them from side to side. I sighed and stood against the car, next to her.

"What happened in there, Let?"

Letty looked up and gave me a side on glance. "She said that her and Dom were together and some shit about how he was gonna leave me. And some other shit like that." She did a small shrug to act as thought she didn't care.

"You know it's not true. Dom would never—"

"Yeah. I know. That's why I punched her." We both smiled and I shook my head slowly.

"Is that what you and Dom were arguing about?"

She paused and then nodded slowly. "I'm so sick of all these girls coming up to me sayin that Dom's theirs. It's all fucking bullshit. And I know it. And he knows it. And _everybody_ fucking knows it, Cass. I'm just so sick of it all! I dunno what it is. Why do they do that? Are they _that_ jealous?" She said with a quiet sigh.

We both stood there for a second, looking at nothing in particular, before Letty burst into laughter. "I can't believe I fucking punched her. Dom is gonna kill me."

I shook my head slowly, "What will I do with you, Let? C'mon, let's go home."

"Yeah. I wasn't having much fun anyways."

Vince had found Mia and Belinda and was walking out with them in tow. "Found 'em" He said with a smirk. Mia had a scowl on her face; as though somebody had just taken candy from a baby, and she was the baby.

"But I don't wanna go. We were just starting to have some fun!"

"Tough. Get in." Letty opened the car door and we all hopped in. Vince went to his car and we followed him home.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The morning sunlight hit my face as I walked out the back doors into the Toretto's yard. Mia was seated on the bench with a magazine in her lap as she flicked through the pages; her back was to Letty as she sat on the table, with bobby pins in her mouth, as she braided Mia's hair and glanced down at the magazine every so often.

I took a step forward and the door slammed shut behind me instantly, causing me to cringe at the loud noise. Both Letty's and Mia's heads shot up and they both quickly smiled.

"Morning." Mia said as she shifted her head back down to the magazine. Letty nodded and smiled as she continued to braid.

My hand lifted slightly away from my body in my half assed attempt at waving and I let out a delayed grunt and hoped it passed off as a 'good morning'. I took a seat at the end of the table and crossed my arms on the table as I rested my head down and watched Letty carefully plait one strand of Mia's hair over another.

"No, Jesse! That's final." Dom stormed out of the house with Jesse speeding up behind him.

"C'mon, Dom. It's just a few days, I'll be back before you know it and be back to work," Jesse pleaded.

Dom smiled at us and walked up and kissed Letty on the forehead. "Morning, girls." He turned to Jesse and stood firm. "Jess, I said no." Dom's voice was low, and we knew it was the final answer.

Jesse threw his hands up in the air, defeated and let out a long frustrated sigh.

Letty took the bobby pins out of her mouth and clipped them in Mia's hair. "What's going on?" She questioned as she looked over at Jesse.

"Jesse wants a week off from the garage." Dom sat on the bench next to Mia and perched his elbows up on the table behind him.

"So? Give it to him. He's never asked for a day off before, even when he was meant to have a day of he still showed up at work. He deserves a break." Letty paused braiding and looked over at Dom.

"But, we got a hell of a work load this week, we need him here." Dom was quick to fight back, but he never raised his voice.

"Cass can help out, she only works two days a week as it is, give her this whole week. And Jess can go have a week off."

"Cass doesn't know the computer work Jess knows."

"I can give her a quick lesson, it's really not that hard. Ay, Cass? What do ya say?" Jesse looked over at me and I could see his eyes pleading. Dom, Letty and Mia's eyes soon followed and I had everybody staring at me.

My mind strained but I eventually let out a groggy, "Sure. I'll do it."

Jesse jumped up in delight letting out a quick, "Yes!" before he jumped at me and hugged me. I sleepily flopped my arms around him to return the hug and was almost dragged away when he went to pull away.

"So Dom, you'll let me go?" Jesse stood in front of Dom again and clasped his hands together as though he were praying. "Please. Please. Please."

Dom sighed and looked over to me, I gave him a quick wink and he looked back to Jesse and nodded slowly. "Sure man. You get a week. You're back to work next Friday."

"Yeah, sure! Whatever. Thanks man." Jesse quickly hugged Dom and ran inside again.

"That was sweet, Dom." Mia said with a hint of sarcasm.

Letty leaned over and kissed Dom and returned to Mia's hair, quickly finishing it off. She smoothed it back with her hands and then lightly slapped Mia on the shoulder. "A'ight, girl. You're done."

Mia thanked Letty and did as Jesse and went back inside.

"It was a good idea to give Jesse a break, Dom." Letty said after a period of silence. She rubbed her hand over Dom's scalp and he smiled up at her.

"Do you want me to leave you two lovebirds alone?" I smirked and instantly Letty spun around and flipped me off. I mimicked her and held my middle finger up at her, "sit on it and rotate, honey."

The low rumbles of car engines could be heard up the street, before Leon's Skyline appeared on the driveway; Vince parked right behind him. They both emerged from their cars and meandered up the driveway.

"Hey. What's up." They both said, simultaneously.

Vince picked up the basketball that lay on the ground and bounced it a few times before taking a shot at the hoop; and missing. He grunted and let the ball roll away, back to where it was.

"Nice, V. Nice." I laughed and he ran up to me and sat on my lap. He slung his arm around my neck and rubbed his knuckles into my head. I quickly tried to push him off, with no luck, all the while trying to ignore the headache that was starting to surface.

He stopped and grinned at me making himself comfortable on my lap. I narrowed my eyes at him and pursed my lips together; trying to look annoyed. "You look hot when you're annoyed, ya know that?" He smirked, looking pleased with himself. I rolled my eyes and sighed; giving up, almost, and rested my head on his shoulder as I subconsciously ran my fingers through my hair to fix it up.

Letty burst into laughter and patted me on my shoulder, "do you want me to leave you two lovebirds alone?" She mimicked me from earlier.

"Please. Would you?" I batted my eyelashes at her and then at Vince who kissed me on the cheek. His beard rubbed against my skin and tickled me as my hand automatically came to scratch the itch. "Maybe after he shaves." I smacked Vince on the knee and pushed him off as I stood up.

I slung my arm around Letty's shoulders and leaned up against the table. "You busy today?"

Letty paused and looked at me with an eyebrow raised in an almost perfect arch. "Why?" She trailed the word on for a few seconds ending on a slightly high pitch.

"Well," I paused for suspense and then looked at the guys, "how about you guys? Got any important plans for today?"

They all shrugged and shook their heads no, with an almost audible grunt that I hoped meant no as well. I nodded in approval and looked at Letty again. She glared at me to continue and jabbed her finger in my side.

My body flinched and I almost lost balance but hung on to Letty's shoulders. "Ok. Ok. No need to get violent. I need you guys to help me move my shit from my place, here."

Letty's mouth opened and almost hit the floor. "You've decided to move in?" She squealed in my ear causing me to cringe. I nodded in response, trying to get my hearing back. She squealed again and leapt off the table and onto me; Dom let out a grunt of pain as Letty kicked him in the head. Letty wrapped her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist and hugged me. I tried my best to keep my balance but failed, and soon we were both on the ground.

I had my back on the ground and Letty straddled my waist with her hands pinning my shoulders down. "You're not bullshitting me are you? You really are moving in?" I was only able to nod again, thinking about the shooting pain at the base of my skull. Letty smiled and did a little happy dance.

I looked behind her to the three guys standing in a row, with their heads tilted to one side, and each with a huge grin on their face. I gestured them out to Letty and she turned her head around and then back to me, smiling mischievously. She arched her back and let her head fall back as she feigned pleasure. I smacked my hand over my eyes and laughed. Letty made a few noises that I wished she hadn't and I peered through my fingers and saw each guy staring at us bug eyed. They each licked their lips, as if in sync and tilted their heads to the other side.

Letty stopped and laughed out loud as she stood up, "dickheads." She helped me up and we both walked inside. "I'm sure the guys will be happy to help," was all she said as she slid her arm around my waist and looked back to them still standing with their mouths wide open.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The day had dramatically risen in temperature and by midday we were all taking a well deserved break.

Letty and I sat in banana chairs in shorts and singlet tops, while the guys sat topless at the outside table talking.

"You guys really should invest in a pool." I lifted my glasses to the top of my head and looked over at Letty.

She did the same and nodded her head over to Dom. "Yeah. Tell 'Mr. Why-do-we-need-a-pool-for?' over there that."

We both rolled our eyes and put the glasses back down over our eyes and lay quietly in the sun. Mia soon came to join us, commenting on the tanning and how it didn't really count as doing work; Letty shushed her and told her to join us, or go back to the shop and work.

Mia would do anything to get out of working at the shop on such a day. Nobody came in when the temperature rose so high, and the shop was closed for the rest of the day. None the customers complained though – so it was lucky for all of us.

The three of us lay quietly under the sun, listening to the hushed talk of the guys with random outbursts of laughter when one cracked a joke.

I closed my eyes and enjoyed the heat of the sun on my skin. The chair next to me creaked and shifted from its position for a second and I knew Letty was turning over. The guys had become very quiet suddenly and I assumed they had gone back inside. I continued revelling in the heat until the sudden shock of cold hit me, and then the squeals of Mia and Letty next to me.

My eyes shot open and I opened my mouth to scream but was silenced by a mouthful of water. I lifted my glasses and looked over to Letty and Mia, sitting exactly how I was, soaked and shocked. Letty's eyes bulged out in anger, while Mia cringed as she looked down at the beads of water on her skin.

Vince, Leon and Jesse stood in front of us, laughing so hard that no sounds came out. Dom held the hose in his hand and a shit eating grin on his face, standing right by the others.

I picked up the bottle of water that I kept under my chair and threw it at Dom. He ducked the air-borne bottle and instead it hit Leon on the back of the head. Mia squealed in amusement, as Letty quickly shot up off the chair while the guys were preoccupied and grabbed the hose, aimed it at them and opened the valve.

The guys shielded their faces from the water and swore at Letty.

"Yeah! Now you know how it feels." Letty yelled at them and then turned the water off.

I chuckled as the guys looked down at their soaked selves and then back up to Letty. Dom lunged towards her and she instantly dropped the hose and ran away; Dom quickly caught up and grabbed her by the waist and lifted her off her feet and over his shoulder. He smacked her on the ass and carried her back to the chair and plonked her back down on it. She said something provocative to him in Spanish, eliciting a growl from him before he picked her up again and carried her off inside.

I shook my head and rolled my eyes, and looked over to Mia who cringed slightly before standing up and wiped off any water that hadn't evaporated off her body.

Vince and Jesse continued to laugh but had now taken a seat back at the table, while Leon stood rubbing the back of his head with his hand. His hair was soaked through and water dripped down onto his bare shoulders and glided down the rest of his body. I swallowed hard as I watched one drop of water travel down his chest, his stomach and disappear into the top of his pants. Subconsciously I licked my lips and clenched my hands. Then I remembered why he was still standing there.

"Sorry Le. Didn't mean to hit you." I cringed slightly, still with a smile on my face trying to look like I really didn't mean it.

He looked over to me and glared, but then smiled and shook his head. "Sure you didn't ..." he said as he started chuckling to himself, "damn that hurt. That's enough to give me a concussion." He held his hand on his head for a couple of seconds before sighing.

I laughed and stood up to examine the damage I'd caused. He removed his hand and I ran mine through his hair and was glad that I hadn't thrown it hard enough to cause any open injuries. "Let's put some ice on it." I grabbed his hand and dragged him inside.

Inside, the radio hummed quietly from the living room and upstairs, you could hear Dom and Letty doing what came natural to them. I snorted in amusement and rolled my eyes again as I led Leon into the kitchen. He took a seat on one of the stools as I opened the freezer door and pulled out an ice tray. I popped the ice out onto a clean kitchen towel and wrapped up the ice and then handed it to Leon who put it on the back of his head.

He cringed again from the sudden cold of the towel but soon became accustomed to it.

"Really sorry about that. I swear I was aiming for Dom." I smiled nervously at Leon as he looked back up at me.

"Yeah, I know. You got one hell of a throw there though." He took the towel off and put it down on the bench behind him.

"Pain gone down yet?" I took a step towards him and turned his head a little to see if the sore had started to swell.

"Kinda. Still throbbing though." He forced his head back and looked up at me.

We both stood frozen for what seemed minutes, but really was only a second or two. My hand rested on his shoulder and hooked slightly around the back of his neck. He brought his arm behind my waist and pulled me towards him as he stood up, causing me to now be looking up at him. His other hand came up and cupped my cheek as he leaned down, and kissed me.

His lips were soft and gentle, and he didn't rush at all. My body tensed up slightly at the sudden rush but soon warmed up to his touch. He pulled back and gazed down into my eyes. His breathing had sped up a little, and I never noticed that mine had also. The colour of his eyes had deepened, making them an emerald green. He licked his lips as his thumb traced over mine and he leaned down again. The kiss was deeper, more passionate and greedy. He pulled me even closer to him, and I could feel every inch of him pushing up against my body, every inch of skin that touched his own burned and I could feel my mind screaming that I was going to explode.

I stood frozen, not sure if this was really happening, or if it was all just a dream. My hand lingered on his stomach, my fingers curled slightly, digging into his skin but not enough to cause pain. He captured my bottom lip in his mouth and sucked on it gently before he pulled away again.

My eyes closed and I involuntarily let out a moan of pleasure. When I opened them again, he was smiling down at me. Our bodies were still pressed up against each other and I couldn't help but smile also.

He caressed my cheek with the backs of his fingertips and then curled a strand of hair that had fallen back behind my ear.

I could feel my face was flushed, and my whole body was burning up – out of pleasure or because of the heat, I didn't know – but I liked it either way. I let out a hushed 'wow' and dropped my hand so they were both resting on his stomach.

There was a shuffling sound coming from the door that led outside, and I quickly pulled away from Leon as I grabbed the towel and walked over to the sink. Leon took a seat again, still with a smile on his face as he looked over to the door. Mia waltzed in, unaware of anything – a towel was slung over her shoulder, her glasses rested on the top of her head buried in her unruly hair, and she held her thongs by the straps with her fingers – a loud sigh escaped her as she walked through into the coolness of inside.

As she approached us, she raised a brow and looked between both Leon and I. Quickly I spun around and smiled at her; she smiled back and pulled the towel off her shoulder and hung it over her arm.

"Are you guys planning on doing any more moving today?" She questioned, dropping her shoes to the floor.

Both Leon and I shrugged. "Depends on what Dom and Let wanna do the rest of the day. It might be too hot to move everything else – it can always wait until tomorrow." I emptied the ice into the sink and used the cool side of the towel and ran it over my arms to cool myself down.

Mia nodded in understanding, "guess we'll have to wait for them to come down then."

"They've gone down alright—" Leon chuckled.

Mia punched him lightly on the arm and he swayed to the side then flicked her on the shoulder. She made a face at him then threw her towel over his head and ran out of the room. Leon pulled the towel off of his head, messing up his hair in the process – I laughed as he ran his hands through it to comb it back down.

"What are you laughin' at?" He teased as he narrowed his eyes and glared at me.

I shifted my eyes away from him and continued giggling. He threw the towel at me – I caught it before it fell to the floor and threw it back at him, along with the kitchen towel. I sighed as I ran my hand across the back of my neck, "I should get back to my place and finish getting stuff packed."

"You want some help? Not like I have anything better to do," Leon shrugged as he placed the towels on the bench.

"Yeah, why not?" I smirked as I walked out of the room and headed up the stairs, taking two at a time. I got to Mia's room and leaned up against the doorframe.

She lay silently on her stomach, diagonally across her bed with her feet bent up in the air – her ankles crossed. Her folder lay in front of her, and she twirled a pen through her fingers as she studied intently. I almost didn't want to disturb her, but by the look on her face, it seemed she would welcome any sort of interruption.

"Sounds like they finally passed out," I chuckled and nodded towards Dom and Letty's room.

Mia's head shot up and when she realised it was me she smiled and laughed. "Yeah… thankfully. I thought I'd never get back to studying."

I held on to the doorframe and leaned my body into Mia's room, using the frame for support. "Le and I are goin' back to my place to pack up some more stuff. So if anybody asks…" I trailed off and gestured with my free hand a little.

"Yeah, that's cool. Are V and Jesse going with you?"

"Haven't asked them. But you know they're like – they'll offer to help, but do nothing when they get there."

Mia laughed again and nodded in understanding. "Yup, you get that with those two. Ok, I'll tell Let and Dom when they get outta there." She used her feet to point to the room across from hers.

I nodded my thanks and started to walk away. "Oh…" I quickly stuck my head back in her room and Mia looked up at me again, "…when they do get out of there, tell Dom to come by – we'll need help with a few of the boxes." I smiled when Mia nodded and quickly ran out and back down the stairs.

Leon waited at the bottom of the stairs with two sets of keys in his hand. He had his shirt back on and a pair of sunglasses covered his eyes. He handed my keys to me and we headed to our cars.

His Skyline was parked behind mine, so I waited for him to pull out of the driveway before I drove out and we made our way to my place. Well, now it was my old place – the thought made me smile – now I'd be living with a group of people, rather than by myself and they were all people I was close with which was even better.

………

I pulled up in the driveway and Leon parked at the kerb when we got there. He pushed his glasses to the top of his head as I quickly unlocked the door and we both walked in and examined the mess.

Boxes were everywhere; most were filled with random things I needed, while others were stacked, empty in the corner. Most of the heavy furniture was still there, while the TV and stereo and other light equipment had already been moved to the Toretto's.

I walked straight into my room and looked for any boxes that needed to be moved out into the main room. The mattresses had been turned on their sides and were leaning up against the wall, and only one box was placed next to them. I picked that up and placed it on top of one of the other boxes in the living room.

"What do ya need me to do?" Leon questioned as he scanned the living room.

I turned and did the same as he did and placed my hands on my hips. "Well, we just need the boxes on this end of the room in one corner so they're out of the way when the couch and bed needs to be moved out of here." I gestured to the living room, then over my shoulder at the mattresses.

He nodded and started to move boxes while I turned back into my room. I opened the doors of the walk-in cupboard and made sure there was nothing left in there – when finding nothing, I closed the doors and stared down at the rug that was placed in the middle of my room.

The rug had been there when I moved in, and wasn't necessarily ugly so it was probably worth keeping. I crouched down and slowly started to roll it up. As more of the floor was uncovered, I noticed a square of the wood flooring had been replaced with just one slab of unpainted timber.

_How did I not see this before?_ I thought to myself as I pushed the carpet out of the way as I rested my knees on the floor so I wasn't crouching.

Leon walked in and gestured outside, "Letty's here. She just pulled up…" he looked down at the floor, "… what's that? Some secret hideout?" He walked up and crouched down next to me.

"I have no idea. I've never noticed it," I shrugged. "I never really rolled up the carpet before."

We heard Letty storm through the front door and ask where we were. Leon yelled for her to come into the bedroom and she soon appeared in the doorway.

"Wassup?" She grunted as she leaned up against the doorframe. I looked up her and commented as to why she was here when I asked for Dom. She shrugged and crossed her ankles as she balanced against the frame. I snickered and looked back down to the floor.

Set in the panel off the trapdoor lay a handle, leaving an unobstructed flat surface. I jimmied the rusted handle up and used all my strength to pull the door up. When that didn't work, both Letty and Leon helped. We finally lifted the door up and cautiously peeked into the black hole that was before us.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Leon carefully picked up an old shoebox that lay in the hole and placed it in between him and I, before he checked for anything else in the darkness of the floor.

I sifted through the contents of the box and only found an envelope and a few blank pieces of paper, and one ballpoint pen.

"Wait, there's something else in here." He pulled out another box that was lodged further away from the opening. Letty grabbed the box and dusted off the dirt with her hand. The box was also made of wood, and had a single lock on the front which she tried to pry open with her hands but wasn't able to.

I carefully opened the letter that was in the shoebox – the paper was blank but a key had slipped out of the fold and Letty caught it before it landed on the floor. She inserted it into the lock, and successfully opened it.

Inside the box, there were stacks of hundred dollar bills, bunched up and placed neatly one on top of the other. All three of us let out a gasp of disbelief. Letty quickly pulled each bunch out and counted how many there were, and how many notes were in each bundle.

When she had multiplied it all in her head she stopped and look at the both of us, wide eyed and in shock. She opened her mouth to speak but barely made a sentence. After she took a couple deep breaths, she spoke. "Five. Quarter. Million…" she swallowed forcefully, "Five and … quarter. Million." She repeated.

Leon and I stared at her in disbelief. I blinked rapidly a few times and hadn't realised I stopped breathing. I took a sharp breath in, "what?" I yelled.

"Five, and a quarter. Million. Dollars!" Letty said as a smile formed on her face, "there's five and a quarter million dollars here."

We all sat with our mouths gaping open staring at the piles of money that surrounded Letty. I glanced over at the box the money was hidden in and noticed a tiny hole in the bottom corner. Carefully I picked it up, trying my best not to drop it. My hands shook violently as I continued to try and comprehend what was happening.

I rested the box on my lap and picked at the hole. The bottom panel was loose and soon lifted out revealing bags filled with a white powdered substance. My eyes widened at the realisation of what it was.

"Holy shit!" Leon said in shock, "is that what I think it is."

"Woah mama. That's a shit-load of coke," Letty chimed in.

I dropped the box to the floor and it tipped over causing each bag to tumble out. There were about ten bags filled with cocaine, each labelled with a number.

"What the fuck?" I stared down at the packages then back up to Letty and Leon. "What the hell are we going to do with all this?"

"We could sell it—" Letty said before I cut her off.

"We could use it…" they both raised their brows at me and I smirked, "… or we could call the cops."

"Or, we could keep the money and put everything else back under the floor." Letty shrugged.

"Nah, can't do that… we've already got our fingerprints all over everything. If somebody should uncover it exactly like we just did, they'd probably dust it and get us for it." Leon said, hastily.

Letty and I agreed and we continued staring at everything laid out on the floor.

After a few minutes of silence Letty spoke up, "maybe we _should_ call the cops." She shifted and fell back the short distance to the floor so she was sitting, "it's not like we could really use this. But, we should keep the money. It might come in handy," she continued as she crossed her legs under her.

"If we call the cops we give them everything," I said, matter-of-factly.

Letty sucked on her bottom lip in concentration as she thought of something else. Leon shook his head, still in disbelief.

"Should we tell the other guys?" I questioned.

Letty shrugged slowly. I looked over to Leon and he nodded his head, "yeah we should, but I dunno. Maybe we shouldn't." He looked unsure.

I thought about it for a few minutes before speaking up, "ok."

Letty and Leon looked up at me in confusion.

"Ok. We call the cops. Tell them what we found. But…" I paused and took a deep breath, "we keep the money. Just leave that little titbit out."

Letty laughed and hugged one of the bundles of money. "I'm gonna use you to get me a new blow out exhaust system… yes I am." She spoke in baby talk as she hugged it. Leon and I laughed.

"Ok then. We should hide the money over at the house and then call the cops," Leon said to nobody in particular.

Letty picked up a few bundles and piled them on top of each other. She looked up at me as she continued picking them up, "do you have like, a bag, or briefcase left here?"

I shrugged and went to the living room to check. When I couldn't find anything, I just picked up a box marked 'junk' and took it to Letty. She threw the money into the box and quickly snatched it out of my hands, holding it close to her.

"What about all that? Are we gonna leave it just lying there, or are we gonna put it back in the box?" She nodded towards the pile of bags on the floor as she stood up.

"Just leave it. It'll be seen as disturbing and contaminating the crime scene if we move anything," Leon stated as he too stood up.

Letty balanced the box in her hand as she used the other to pull out her keys. "Ok. I'll take this over and I'll put it in your room, Cass. And then I'll come back, and as soon as I get here, we call the cops." She nodded to say that her word was final and with that she disappeared out of the house and I listened as her tires screeched away from the house.

I looked over at Leon and blinked a few times, "we'll go to hell for that."

He snorted in amusement, "oh yeah."


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

The cops asked question after question; first with the three of us as a group, then individually.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair as one of the cops interrogated me in the kitchen.

"Can you just go through what happened, once again?"

I nodded as we both spoke in hushed tones, "I came here to pack some more stuff, rolled up the carpet and found the trapdoor. Then we opened it, found the shoebox with the key and the other box with the coke. And we called you straight after." I leant up against the kitchen bench and my hands rested on the edge of the granite top.

The cop that stood in front of me wrote something down on a small writing pad he had previously pulled out of his pocket. His hat was secured under his armpit and he stood with both legs apart to support him. He had medium length, black hair that was tied into a ponytail. His shirt was tucked in neatly, and his pants pressed into a perfect crease. The tag that was pinned onto his shirt was gold with his name engraved onto it – next to his name, the local police emblem.

"And you found nine bags in total?" He soon questioned.

_Nine? There were ten… maybe I just counted wrong._ I paused and mentally shrugged. "Yup, nine."

"Ok, thanks. That's all we'll be needing for now," he said as he kept his head down and continued writing, before he looked up and me and smiled and walked out.

I stayed in the kitchen, and soon the cops left and Letty and Leon joined me in the kitchen. Letty came and stood next to me and mimicked how I was standing. She nudged me with her arm and I slowly looked over at her and smiled.

"I thought there were ten bags," I questioned her.

"Oh yeah, that." She shifted her eyes away from mine and looked around the kitchen.

"Letty, tell me you didn't take a bag."

"Ok. I didn't take a bag." She smirked.

I kicked her with the side of my foot and she glared at me.

"What! Ok, I took the bag. So what? It's not like I'm gonna use it for personal use. Do you know how much money we could make selling that shit?" She waved her hands in the air to emphasize her point.

"And you just happened to forget to tell me this?"

"Well, we knew you'd overreact and either tell them, or something."

"We?" I stood staring at Letty wide eyed, then looked over at Leon. He stood silently with his hands in his pockets and looking outside the window. I shook my head in disbelief, "you could have at least told me. I almost told the cop there were ten, then we really woulda been in shit. It doesn't help that we just stole five million dollars." My voice got louder as I said the words and soon I was practically yelling at Letty.

"Yo, chill gurl." Leon said as he looked at me and frowned.

"Don't you tell me to chill." I point my finger at him and shook it sternly, "I know I may not be the most law abiding citizen there is, but even this is a bit much."

I took a few deep breaths, and the others went quiet realizing that I did have a point.

Suddenly, the rumble of Dom's RX7 brought us back to reality.

"We gonna tell Dom?" Letty asked quickly as we all looked at each other, and agreed maybe we should.

"He might want to know what happened if anything should happen to us—" I was cut off by Letty who pinched me as Dom walked in.

He noticed straight away where we were and greeted us with smiles. "Hey guys. Mia said you might need me round to help."

I rubbed my arm where Letty had pinched me and instantly pinched her back on the waist. She flinched and yelped a little before she jumped away from me and to Dom's side. She grabbed him by the arm and grabbed one of the stools that were still left in the house. He sat down and Leon, Letty and I stood in front of him.

Letty sighed deeply and started, "we got something to tell ya, Dom."

Dom raised his brow questioningly as he glanced at each of us.

"There's no use in pussy-footing around it so I'll just get straight to the point…" Letty paused, took another deep breath and continued, "we found five million dollars cash and ten bags of coke in Cass' floor and we called the cops but I stole a bag because I thought we could at least sell it for some more money but—"

Dom's hand shot up to stop Letty speaking. He looked at each of us again, and blinked a few times. His eyes then landed on me for authorisation and I nodded slightly, still quite shocked by everything.

He shook his head in disbelief, and I really couldn't blame him for not being able to react.

After a moment of silence between all of us, Dom finally spoke. "What about your landlord? What if it's his?"

I shook my head quickly, "nah, my landlord is an 85 year old senile woman. She forgets to collect rent off me most weeks, and she has no family – so it's nobody she knows – and it's most certainly nobody I know."

"Unbelievable." Dom stood, then looked at Letty, "and you. You stole a bag of cocaine?"

Letty shrugged, almost innocently, "it seemed like a good idea at the time."

"You gotta return the bag."

"Hell no! And go to jail? Fuck that, Dom." She said firmly.

Dom groaned and brought his hand up to his face and lightly massaged his temples. "I dunno…" he sighed and looked back up to us, "so, why are you telling me all this?"

The three of us shrugged and stood quietly in the kitchen. Dom sighed, shaking his head, "I really don't know what we can do." He shrugged and looked at Letty, "we have to get rid of it then. And that's final."

Letty opened her mouth to object, but thought better of it and stayed quiet.

"Where's the bag?" Dom finally asked.

"Back at home, with the cash," Letty sighed and crossed her arms.

"Ok then…" Dom nodded, then looked around at all the junk sprawled out everywhere in boxes, and out of boxes, "we really should get all this stuff out of here."

We all agreed, and continued moving everything to the Torettos.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Letty and I both collapsed on my bed after everything had been moved. We laughed at how much junk I had and I told her about the kiss Leon and I had shared. After lots of squealing and cheering from Letty, we decided to sort through all the boxes.

Five boxes in, we were interrupted by the doorbell upstairs. Letty looked over at me with excitement filled eyes, before she jumped around happily and then ran to stand at the bottom of the basement stairs.

I stood at the bedroom door and watched as her facial expressions went from happiness to deep in concentration.

Dom had answered the door and there was a lot of mumbling and shuffling before the door finally shut – awkwardly – and then Dom's booming voice ordering Letty and me upstairs.

Letty looked over at me with her eyes bulging in shock and fright. Dom yelled again before we both ran up the stairs. He stood with his arms crossed, jaw clenched and his face was starting to turn a slight shade of red.

"Why are Edwin's guys coming 'round askin' how much we're sellin' for?" He said calmly as he looked at Letty then to me, and then back to Letty.

By now the other guys had joined us in the hallway, watching Dom as he tried to control his temper.

"Woopsie…" Letty said with her best angelic tone.

Dom tilted his head slightly as he looked at Letty, not all that shocked. He then looked once again to me and raised a brow, "Cassie?" I put my hands up in a surrender and instantly his arm shot up to point to the stairwell that led upstairs. "Leticia. Upstairs." He boomed and Letty put her hands on her hips in defence. "Don't test me," he growled under his breath.

Letty sighed and trudged her way up the stairs with Dom right behind. There was a moment of silence between everybody, and only the sounds of their footsteps padding across the carpet, then the slam of the bedroom door.

Even with the two upstairs, their voices were loud from where we all stood. The guys looked over at me and I shrugged. They did the same and we looked at the stairwell again, before we padded our way into the living room; each of us collapsing onto a couch.

Dom and Letty suddenly stopped yelling and it was quiet. We all looked over at the staircase again, and waited of footsteps. Nothing. We heard their voices again, at a regular volume and we all sighed in relief that everything was – somewhat – ok.

I looked over at Jesse sitting on the couch next to me, "when are you going?"

He smiled and jumped around on the couch a little, "tonight. I'm picking Belinda up in 'bout an hour and then we're on our way to Baja." His face glowed with excitement as he explained where they were going and what he had planned to do.

We all joked at how much of a romantic he was, before Letty bounced happily down the stairs, followed by Dom who looked quite defeated.

Letty nodded towards the basement and gestured for me to follow. I quickly got up and watched as Letty bounced down the second row of stairs down to the basement. I glanced back at Dom who had taken a seat where I had been – he shrugged and then I ran down the stairs after Letty.

She closed the door after I walked in and stayed silent for a few moments, only a mischievous grin on her face.

"What's with that look?" I said when I was fed up with the silence.

Letty shrugged, "nothing."

I raised my brow and Letty's smile widened, "o-o-okay then…"

She moved around the room quickly and shifted a few boxes until she found one filled with clothing. Her face instantly lit up when she found the sexy red lace camidoll that I owned; she held it up by the straps and raised both her brows in surprise. I blushed and grabbed it off her and stuffed it under the pillow. She chuckled and waggled her eyebrows suggestively before she started sifting through more clothes. When she found what she was looking for, she picked it up and held it up for me to see.

"Does it suit me?" She asked as she held the white shirt against her body and danced around the room.

Again, I raised my eyebrow and stared at her. She stopped dancing and threw the top at my face. When I pulled the shirt off my face she was holding up the piece of lace lingerie that I had stuffed under the pillow, again with the mischievous smile on her face.

"How did I not know you bought this?"

She held the camidoll by the straps and examined the material; it was a mid thigh length, sheer floral embroidered lace design with thin, sequined straps. It dipped low in the front and had a slit on each side with satin ribbon sewed on the hems. It was meant to only be seen by one person, Jason, my ex – but he had left me before he got to see it. Too bad for him.

Letty stared at me, starting to get impatient when I didn't answer her. She tapped her foot on the floor and continued to dangle the flimsy dress in front of my face. I pulled it from her grip again and smirked.

"It was for Jason…" I trailed off and shrugged at her, then threw it back in the box it came from.

She nodded in understanding and then picked up another article of clothing and measured it up against her body.

"Letty, what the hell is going on? What did you say to Dom?" I was finally fed up with her avoiding what happened.

She looked up at me and smiled, "nothing happened. We sorted out everything, and we're partying tonight. Tomorrow we're gonna tell Vince about the money – when Jess gets back we'll tell him – and then we decide what we're going to do with all that cash." Her smile widened and I knew she was thinking about all the things she wanted to buy.

I shook my head in amusement and held up the shirt that she threw at me, "you wearing this?"

She nodded and dropped the skirt she was holding and picked up another one, "with this? You think they go?"

"Since when do you care if they match?" I joked and got something thrown at me again in response. "Yeah, they go," I said, defeated, before we both started laughing.

………

As usual, the party was going at full swing before 10 and the house was filled with people. The music blasted from the living room speakers and there was alcohol everywhere.

Letty wore the white halter top that she found amongst all my junk, and a tight, black leather skirt that stopped just above the knee, with a split that travelled a few inches up her thigh; she combined that with a pair of black, mid-calf high heeled boots.

I wore a tight, off the shoulder, white, long sleeved shirt with a hot pink tank top underneath. Letty had picked out a pair of baby pink, hipster jeans from Mia's closet that were a very snug fit and sat low on my waist; she then matched the jeans up with a pair of white stilettos.

We both stood in the kitchen, a Corona in hand and watched as the people in the living room mingled happily with each other. Men danced with women, and women danced with women, and unless passed out, everybody was pressed up against another body – griding along to the music that had bass so low the houses at the end of the street shook.

Vince stumbled in and raised his bottle at us to greet us, and we returned the gesture. One of the girls from the party stumbled after him and pushed her way under his arm and linked it across her shoulders. He lingered a kiss on her cheek and then raised his bottle again and then wandered off, with her by his side. Letty and I couldn't help but laugh.

Letty suddenly stopped laughing and I heard her growl slightly. I looked over at her, then followed her line of vision, straight to Dom. He was dancing with a random girl from the races, and by the looks of things he wasn't trying very hard to push her off. Before I could stop her, Letty slammed her Corona on the bench and stalked up to Dom.

I quickly ran after her and stood behind her, with the same stance as her – arms crossed, glaring at Dom. When he realised we were both waiting for him to react, he cringed slightly and took a step back. The girl took a step towards Letty, ready to defend herself.

"Why don't you just pack it up?" Letty spat as she dropped her arms and balled up her fists.

The girl clenched her jaw and I could see her sizing up her options in her mind. She scowled at Letty, then turned to Dom and did the same to him, then walked off and grabbed another random man to dance with.

Letty crossed her arms again and waited for Dom to react. When he just stood there, she threw her arms up in anger and stormed out the front door. Even over the music, you could hear her car start and drive off.

Dom instantly grabbed his keys and headed after her. Leon appeared from behind me and stopped Dom, giving him a look that said not to go after her. He looked over to me and I looked away, not wanting to start anything with him. I heard him sigh before he pushed his way past me and through the crowd, disappearing into the other room.

I looked over at Leon with an unsure look. He smiled and wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me towards him.

"They'll be fine after they cool off," he whispered into my ear. His lips grazed against my ear and I bit on my lower lip as thoughts about the kiss we had shared played through my mind. As if he read my mind, he pulled me closer and whispered into my ear again, "right now, I think we should finish what we started earlier."

He pulled away and took my hand in his and led me further into the crowd – when we were somewhere in the middle, he spun me around to face him and placed his hands on my hips as I swayed them to the music.

"You look like cotton candy in all that pink," he said to me as pinched at the hem of my shirt.

I hooked my fingers into the belt loops on his jeans and pulled him closer, grinding my hips into his. His breath was hot against my neck and he let out a faint groan as his fingers curled into my waist. I smiled and moved my hands up to his shoulders, "is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Good. Very good," he managed after a short pause, "you look good enough to eat." Slowly he guided his hand up and moved a strand of hair away and kissed the crook of my neck, making sure his lips lingered.

My head fell back, giving him more access as he trailed kisses back up my neck, up to my ear. My eyes closed at their own will from the sensation he was creating as I clasped my hands together around his neck.

"But, why cotton candy?" I questioned, trying to ignore the heat that was surging through my body.

Leon chuckled and curled a strand of hair behind my ear, "well, cotton candy is sweet…" he bit my ear lobe gently, "fun to eat…" then he bit down on my neck, "and it just melts in your mouth…" he drew out the words slowly and dropped his hands to the small of my back.

I swallowed hard and sucked on my bottom lip as a small whimper escaped, "maybe we should take this somewhere else," I looked up at him and raised my brow suggestively and he smiled mischievously in response.

I pulled my hands away from his neck and grabbed his hand as he had done and pulled him out of the crowd and down the basement stairs.

He eagerly followed, and all the while I could feel his eyes burning into me. I stopped in front of his bedroom door and turned to face him. Instantly, he stood in front of me and pushed my body against the door, and kissed me passionately. Using his knee, he spread my legs open slightly, and then ground his hips further into mine as he deepened the kiss.

Everything was just a blur, and without realising it, I soon found myself on Leon's bed with him over me, resting between my legs. His hands were all over my body, and I could feel his arousal pushing into my thigh through his pants.

He moved over my body with expertise; knowing exactly where to touch, where to hold, where to push, where to kiss – it was pure bliss.

My mind raced as he pulled my shirt up over my head and then did the same with his. He cupped my breasts with his hands, before gliding them down to my back and unhooked the straps. My bra was thrown to the floor and Leon instantly put his hands over my breasts again. One hand kneaded with his thumb playing across my nipple as he ravished the other with his mouth.

He payed the same amount of attention to my other nipple with his mouth before he slid down my body, trailing kisses down my stomach and past my belly button.

There he paused and I whimpered in response. I sat up and rested against my elbows as I looked down at him.

He trailed his finger across the top of the jeans and slowly he unbuttoned them – teasing me. His fingers hooked under the pants and into my panties; he looked up at me and our eyes locked. Slowly he slid my pants off my legs and threw them on the floor to join my other clothing.

Leon traced the tattoo that circled my ankle as he guided my leg up.

"Nice shoes," he growled seductively, then brought his lips to my skin once again as he slowly made his way down my leg and to my inner thigh. He brought my leg back down over his shoulder as his hands continued to roam over my body.

White spots started to dance in front of my eyes as his tongue made contact deep in my flesh. My back instantly arched towards him and I guided my hand down and curled my fingers into his hair.

Leon continued to devour me, using both his hands and mouth, sending my body into absolute ecstasy. My skin felt as thought it were on fire and everything around me seemed to haze out like it never existed.

He thrust his tongue deeper and I cried out as my mind screamed for release. I could feel him smiling against me and then once again he thrust his tongue deep into my body – sending me over the edge – my mind was spiralling with pleasure. My heart raced and I felt like my temperature rose a few hundred degrees as my body hummed with satisfaction.

Leon climbed over me again and kissed me deeply, I could taste myself on his lips and almost subconsciously, my hands moved down his stomach to unbutton his pants. I fumbled with the zipper more, not being able to make my fingers work properly, before Leon pulled away from the kiss and smiled.

I finally gave up and brought my hands to cup his face, "I need you, Leon." Our eyes locked again, and he licked his lips – pausing – as though he were contemplating what to say or do next.

In one quick movement he stood and removed his pants and boxers, letting them fall to the floor. He returned to his position above me and pushed his body to mine.

I moaned and my eyes closed automatically from the feelings that surged through me.

"Look at me," he said as soon as he noticed my eyes were shut and I did as he said. I was transfixed by the colour and depth of his eyes and almost lost myself in them until I felt him push himself inside me.

I clutched onto the sheets beneath me until my body accustomed to the pain. I lifted my legs, bending them at the knee and Leon guided himself in further.

My body adjusted to him and I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. As if he had read my mind, he started pumping in and out; slow at first, but soon he sped up. I whispered gentle words, telling him to slow down, or thrust deeper and he did exactly that.

A thin layer of sweat began to form on the both our bodies and all rational thought escaped my mind. Things around us started to fade away again and spots danced in front of my eyes. My fingers dug into his back and only the sounds of our breathing and moaning surrounded us.

Our breathing sped up and I could feel his body begin to tense. Mine did the same, and suddenly everything went black and another surge of heat coursed through my body. My walls tightened around him and he continued to move in and out of my body; he groaned as his climax hit him, before his body gave way and he collapsed on top of me.

My body buzzed in a state of euphoria and I smiled to myself as I wrapped my arms around Leon. I ran my hands through his hair as we lay there for an eternity, our breathing rapid but slowly returning to a normal pace.

I hadn't realised when he rolled off me and draped his arm over my stomach, pulling me closer to his body. I smiled in contentment, and he nuzzled his head into my neck, and slowly I began to doze off to sleep to the sound of the party still going on upstairs.


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

When I woke, it was still dark outside, the sun only just starting to peek over the horizon. The single window in the room was open slightly, letting a cool breeze blow through, leaving a trail of Goosebumps over my skin. The distant chirp of a bird announced it was early morning outside, whereas inside it was dead silent.

Last nights party ended early; earlier than normal anyways. Letty was usually the one who convinced people to stay, and after she left, people slowly started leaving.

I sighed quietly and raised my arms over my head for a stretch. Leon stirred in his sleep next to me, and I carefully turned on my side and watched him as he slept. One arm hung off the side of the bed, while his right loosely clutched the thin sheet over his stomach. His head was tilted away from me, and his breathing stayed low and steady.

I tugged on the sheet and pulled it up under my arms and watched the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest. I grazed the back of my knuckle lazily over his arm, following the contours of his muscles, and outlining the tattoo that covered his arm. He took a deep breath in as he stirred again and I instantly pulled my hand away. He chuckled and I looked up to meet his gaze and smiled as he mimicked me and turned on his side to face me.

"I didn't mean to wake you," I said softly.

"It's ok. I was already awake," he took another deep breath and ran his hands across his eyes to rub the sleep away. His hand continued up through his hair and I couldn't help but stare at the way the dim light made his skin glow, and accentuated the way his muscles moved over his stomach. My hand instinctively moved to his chest as I raked my fingers down his abs, stopping at the sheet.

Leon intertwined his fingers with my own and brought my hand up to his lips and kissed each finger softly. I purred and hesitantly unhooked my fingers and guided my hand back down under the sheet.

He quickly grabbed my wrist and stopped me from moving my hands further. I looked up at him questioningly and he smiled slyly, "if you move any further, there's no guarantee I'll let you leave this bed for a very long time." He licked his lips as I shuffled closer to him and wrapped my leg around his, before he slowly loosened the grip on my wrist.

He inhaled sharply through his teeth as I grasped him. I kissed him; sucking on his bottom lip teasingly, and as I pulled away, he instantly brought his hand up to cup the back of my neck and pull me towards him. His kiss was deep and forceful, almost pleading for me to continue. As his tongue touched mine, I closed my eyes and a moan escaped when he pulled away.

I started moving my hand up and down his shaft, eliciting another sharp breath. His eyes closed as he rested his forehead against mine. My hand moved faster along his length, and his breath became more and more erratic. His hand rested at the curve of my waist and he kissed me again until I was out of breath. I continued moving my hand around him, watching his every expression – from when I played my fingers around him causing him to frown as my nails lightly grazed him, to when I used my whole palm, making him swallow hard and bite on his lower lip.

I whispered his name and he opened his eyes; I smiled as his eyes deepened with lust, almost burning a hole through me. His mouth opened slightly as he moaned, and I leaned in and enveloped his bottom lip, trailing my tongue over the skin.

"I'm coming…" he breathed as his grip on my waist tightened, "fuck…"

His eyes rolled back and he closed them again as his breathing became deeper. He dropped his head to my shoulder and his hand down to the small of my back, pulling me closer. He groaned again, and his hand clutched tighter as his release hit him.

We both lay silently for a few minutes; I listened to his breathing as it slowed and returned to normal.

More birds joined in the morning chorus outside and another breeze blew through the room. The sun began to make its way through the window and I smiled to myself again.

When he had composed himself, Leon hesitantly leaned off the bed and grabbed one of his shirts from the floor. He pulled my hand up from beneath the sheet and gently wiped it clean, and then threw the shirt back to the floor.

I planted another kiss on his lips when he snuggled up to me again.

"I should get up now. Got a lot to do today," I chuckled as I slowly slid out from the sheets and sat on the edge of the bed.

"I hope you don't think you're not getting away that easily," he smirked and grabbed my waist, pulling me back to the bed; he rolled me on my back and pinned me down with his body.

I smirked and nodded innocently, "ya-huh," he shook his head 'no', and I tried my best to look shocked.

He raised a brow, and thought about it for a second, then narrowed his eyes playfully at me. I smiled sweetly at him and he carefully lowered his body on me and kissed me. His hands roamed over me like they had the night before, and automatically my hands wrapped around his shoulders.

Just as I thought my body was going to explode, he pulled away and smiled devilishly.

"You, are cruel," I said after I took a deep breath for air.

He stuck his tongue out at me, and rolled over as I sat up again.

I looked to the clothes scattered all over the floor. My eyes wandered to the jeans I had worn, and I cringed instantly at the thought of having to put them on to walk out of the room. I scanned the rest of the clothing and finally picked up Leon's boxers and slipped them on. I then picked up my pink tank top, separated it from the white shirt and pulled that over my head.

When I turned back around to face Leon, he had both hands behind his head and he was watching my every movement. My eyes travelled lower to the sheet that lay dangerously low on his body.

I forced myself to swallow, "I should get out of here…"

He shot me a wolfgrin – knowing exactly what I was thinking. I picked up the rest of my clothing and left the room.

"You can make up for this later… and I want my boxers back," he yelled after me before I closed the door. I stuck my hand back through the opening with my middle finger raised, and closed it shut when he started laughing.

I stood in the empty hallway for a second, trying to hear if there was any movement upstairs. There was some quiet shuffling, and the sound of cupboard doors opening and closing. I figured it was only Mia and continued to my room.

As I passed Vince's room, his door swung open and a random girl stood in front of me – shocked. She wore a small leather skirt – that could have easily passed off as a shirt, and her shirt was unbuttoned exposing her lime green bra. She held a pair of fluro pink plastic thongs in her hand, and she looked a total wreck; her hair was raised a few inches over her head as though she had been electrocuted, and her make up was smudged all over her face. I raised my brow as she took a step back – eyes and mouth wide open – she was definitely not expecting anybody to be awake.

She tried to pass off a smile as she closed the door behind her and ran up the stairs and out the front door. As I heard the front door close, Vince's door clicked open again. I opened my mouth to say something, when I realised it wasn't Vince.

Another young woman stepped out; she was dressed almost the same as the last girl, but had less make up, so it wasn't smudged as bad, and her hair was cut short so it only spiked up at the ends. She dangled her running shoes in her hand by the shoelaces, joined with a small caramel coloured handbag.

Her smile was a bit more sincere as she closed the door behind her.

"Fun night?" I said, trying not to sound too sarcastic or amused.

Her smile widened, as she scanned my body up and down, "about as much fun as you had."

I scoffed as she did the same as the girl before her, and made her way up the stairs, and out the front door. She was obviously somewhat, experienced – as was Vince – and not as shocked, whereas the first girl was probably just very drunk and thought she would try something new. By the look of things, something she would never try again. Or, maybe it was just the sight of Vince in the morning that scared her.

_V, you dog._ I shook my head in amusement as I made my way into my room, trying not to laugh so I didn't wake anybody up.

As I opened my door, I saw somebody on my bed. I approached my bed quietly and realised it was Letty.

A shot of guilt washed over me – I dropped my clothes immediately and bent down next to the bed.

She lay, huddled with her knees close to her body, and her hands crossed over her chest. Her hair fell on her face and I gently pushed it behind her ear. I could tell she had been crying; her eyes and cheeks were stained red and her breathing was still broken, even as she slept.

Suddenly her eyes opened and she stared at me with her big, brown eyes; bloodshot from all the tears. Her face softened when she realised it was only me, before her bottom lip started quivering and her eyes welled up.

"Oh, mami…" I whispered as I crawled on the bed next to her and hugged her tightly.

She clutched onto my shirt as she cried and all I could do was hold her close.

Soon her crying stopped and she fell asleep again. I was sure she hadn't slept all night so I didn't attempt to move or do anything that might wake her.

Even as she slept she whimpered, and every time she did, a sharp pain shot me through the heart. I sighed and closed my eyes until soon, I fell asleep too.

………

Letty's sniffling woke me up again. It was almost noon, and usually nobody was up until after one – so staying in bed for another hour sounded good.

I rolled around to face her and hugged her again. She opened her eyes slowly and smiled weakly up at me, then rubbed her eyes sleepily.

"You ok?" I asked as I leaned up off the bed against my elbow, with the base of my palm pressed up to my temple.

She shrugged half heartedly and sat up on the bed, stretching her arms above her head, and then flopped back down on the bed.

We both lay silent for a second before I finally spoke again, "what happened last night?"

Letty turned to face me and furrowed her brow in confusion, "what do ya mean? You saw what happened."

"No, I don't mean that. I just mean… your reaction. You have never reacted like that before. And then this morning," I gestured with my hands.

She shrugged half heartedly again as she continued to stare up at the ceiling, "can't a girl be melodramatic once in a while?"

I raised a brow and she rubbed her nose and sniffled again, "you'd tell me if something was up, right?"

She turned on her side to face me and smiled, a full blown Letty smile, "of course, babe." Her grin grew wider and she kissed my forehead and gave me a hug, "you know I would." She then got up off the bed and disappeared into the bathroom.

Soon after Letty walked out, Leon sauntered in and closed the door behind him. I sat up on the bed, leaning on both elbows and raised my brow mischievously at him. He was fully dressed, in jeans and a black shirt, and his hair still messy from sleep. He crawled on the bed over my body, then slowly lowered his head to mine and brushed his lips against mine.

He pushed me down on the bed and deepened the kiss as my hands automatically glided under his shirt. He pulled away slightly, "I came for my boxers," he said before he kissed me again.

"Oh. My. God!" Letty squealed, causing Leon to break the kiss, and we both looked back at her. She stood with her hand still gripping the doorhandle, her eyes wide open in shock, and a huge grin on her face.

Leon groaned and dropped his head to my neck in defeat.

Letty giggled and made a sound of approval, "ya know Le, I never realised what a nice ass ya got." I shook my head and dropped it back on the bed.

Leon laughed, his head still resting against my neck, "we'll finish this later," he whispered huskily so only I could hear, then got up and left. Letty made a point to smack his behind as he walked out – he did the same to her. Letty closed the door behind her and made sure to lock it; pointing out that I did have a lock on the door and she even showed me how to use it; I only rolled my eyes in response.

"Thanks, Let, I never knew how to use a lock before," I said with another eye roll.

She jumped on the bed next to me, and leant up against me and batted her eyelashes innocently at me. "So-o-o. Why didn't you tell me?"

I raised my brow, "uhh, well… when exactly could I have told you?"

She looked deep in thought for a second and then nodded, "you're right. Well, at least now I know." She grinned again, then shifted on the bed so she was straddling me, "I wanna know every teeny itty-bitty detail. And I mean… e-v-e-r-y-thing." She looked down at the boxers I was wearing, "they suit you," she mocked.

I laughed again, "you're a perv."

"Damn straight."

I couldn't help but let my eyes wander over her body as she straddled me. There was a lot of history between Letty and I. A LOT. I looked back up at her and she smirked.

"You want me bad, baby!" She teased again.

I sat up so I was inches from her face, "been there, done that, got the t-shirt… and the scars to prove it."

She glared at me playfully and then pushed me back down onto the bed much like Leon had. She licked her lips, "ya know, if you ever wanna do that again… maybe a bit more sober though – just holla." She winked and pushed a strand of hair behind my ear.

We both stayed there quietly for a few seconds, before the sound of something heaving being dragged came from upstairs. After a quick hesitation, we stood – I pulled on a pair of loose fitting jeans and we headed upstairs.

There we found the guys all helping to drag the furniture back to where they should be. Letty and I watched for a few minutes, curious as to what happened. When they were done they explained how a group of teenagers had drunk way too much and decided they wanted to be home renovators for a living – and in return for an 'invite' to the party they wanted to move the furniture around as a favour.

Letty walked into the kitchen and I followed. We said our morning's to Mia and grabbed something quick to eat from the fridge and sat at the table and watched as the guys continued to move the furniture back in place. Letty seemed unmoved by the events of the night before now, almost as though they never happened.

When Dom walked into the kitchen she walked up to him and kissed him ever so passionately it even made me weak in the knees. Dom stood there, stunned and confused, before Letty smiled and whispered something to him making him smile. He then turned back around and headed into the other room, and Letty sat down.

It was really as though nothing had happened.


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

The guys finished cleaning up the mess and we all collapsed in the living room on a couch, or on the floor. Letty and Vince raced each other on the PlayStation, while Dom lied down on the 3-seater with his eyes closed. Mia was nowhere to be seen, whereas Leon and I couldn't keep our eyes off each other.

He cocked the corner of his lips up slightly and waggled his brows at me; I bit on my bottom lip as I scanned my eyes slowly across his body.

"Woo!" Letty threw her arms up in the air after dropping her controller to the floor. She poked Vince mercilessly while chanting "I won! I won! I beat your ass!" over and over again.

Dom let out a low rumble of laughter, keeping his eyes closed only making Letty avert her attention to him. He opened one eye carefully when Letty suddenly went quiet and grumbles out an "oh shit" when she quickly stood and ran to leap on him.

Vince fell back to lie on the floor with a groan; he looked up at me and Leon behind him and smiled. "Either of you wanna play?" We shook our heads simultaneously. "Damn," he grumbled quietly before he stood and disappeared into the kitchen.

I looked over at Dom and Letty who were unusually quiet; Letty was lying on top of Dom and was whispering something to him while she fingered his shirt. They spoke in hushed tones and it seemed they were having a very intense and personal conversation.

Leon nudged me with his elbow, "I'm gonna head off down to the shop… wanna come?" He smirked mischievously again and raised an eyebrow. I stared intently as his tongue darted across his bottom lip. I nodded and we both stood; he mumbled something to Dom about the shop who only grumbled a response while still listening to Letty.

We both hopped into our respective cars and drove the short distance to the garage; Leon pulled into the driveway first and I parked close behind. He unlocked the back door and pressed in the code to disable the alarm and we closed the door behind us. I flicked a light switch and the garage lit up instantly. A hot pink BMW M3 glistened under the fluorescent lights, and next to it a deep navy blue Nissan Pulsar sat.

Leon headed towards the radio and tuned into a radio station letting a rock song echo quietly through the room. He grabbed a small toolbox and set it by the BMW; I popped the hood for him and sat in the drivers seat while he quietly worked under the hood.

"What do ya think we'll buy first with the cash?" I mused out loud.

I saw Leon pop his head from behind the hood with a grin, "maybe that pool Dom doesn't want."

My eyes lit up and Leon laughed before disappearing again. "Maybe I'll buy a new car…" Leon snorted and I nodded, "yeah, you're right. I'll never get rid of that thing."

I traced my hand across the leather on the steering wheel and over the emblem embedded in the center. With a sigh, I got out of the seat and made my way to the front; I leaned against the edge of the car and stretched my feet out in front of me and crossed them at the ankles. Leon looked up quickly from the corner of his eye but continued working; he leaned over and shoved his hand through a gap behind the engine. His face scrunched up as he worked on some wires blindly. "What are ya thinkin'?" I jumped when he spoke.

"Oh. Nothin'."

"I don't believe you." He pulled on something before standing again, wiping his hands on a dirty rag. Moving to stand in front of me, he forced my legs apart and stood between them, placing a hand on either side of my head on the roof of the hood. Automatically my hands reached up to fiddle with the hem of his shirt; I stared at the material for a few moments before he spoke and brought me out of my trance again. "Cassie? What's up?"

I shrugged and looked up into his eyes, the cool green instantly calming me. "I'm just scared about this whole money thing. And…" I took a breath and blew it out slowly as I dropped my head again, "Let's really starting to scare me." When he didn't make a sound, I looked up again. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion and I sighed again, "she's moody, erratic, and she's always up and down – happy one minute, sad and distant another, angry another. And that thing with the coke… I know she's always been a bit crazy like that, but this is different."

Leon raised his brows and moved one hand to rest on my shoulder; he played his thumb against my ear and I could see him thinking about his words before he spoke. He nodded slightly, "I noticed that. But I don't think it's anything to worry about. Her and Dom are going through a bit of a rough patch at the moment. They'll get through it, they always do." He smiled soothingly and my head automatically drifted towards his hand. Cupping my cheek, he ran his thumb along my skin, "promise me you won't worry about it so much. And as for the money, that we have to take as it comes."

I bit at my bottom lip nervously and looked deep into his eyes. After a moment, I finally smiled and nodded. Leon dropped his other hand to my waist and stepped in closer before dipping his head down for a kiss. Our tongues danced for what seemed a century before the sound of rumbling engines broke us out of our trance.

We separated and headed into the front of the shop and peeked out the front window. My heart jumped into my throat and it felt like the contents of my stomach was soon to follow. I could feel Leon's eyes burning into me and I forced myself to swallow as I stepped back from the window. I was shaking and I couldn't stop as I ignored Leon's stares and ran out of the shop through the back again.

Jason sauntered up the side driveway, running his fingers along the side of my car. I clenched my jaw and balled my hands into fists at my sides. "What are you doing here?" I forced out trying not to jump at him and aim for his jugular.

"Thought I'd come say hi," he said smugly, his voice more raspy than I remembered.

Before I had time to speak again, two other familiar faces made their way up the driveway to stand behind him. "Derek. Bruno." I said between gulps. The two men still looked the same, like they were hopped up on steroids and had just escaped from jail. It wouldn't have surprised me if they had. Jason on the other hand looked different, as though he had matured; he had bulked up, but his face still looked slightly sunken and his features more angular. His black eyes still pierced right through me and his smile still dazzled me. He had shaved his hair off to almost nothing and more tattoos adorned his neck and arms.

I felt Leon's presence behind me. I glanced over at him quickly, standing firmly with his arms crossed.

Jason pursed his lips. "Leon," He nodded as a greeting and I saw him clench his jaw slightly. "So, you two here alone?"

"What's it to you?" Leon spoke before I had a chance. The tone in his voice scared me. Protective and ready to kill.

"Wasn't Dom supposed to be the protective one?" Jason raised a brow mockingly and smirked. I saw his eyes dart between the two of us and I could see his mind register his thoughts before the smile faded completely and his jaw clenched tighter. The muscles in his neck tightened and I saw a spark of jealousy flash through his eyes before he looked away as he pushed his hands into his jeans pockets.

"What do you want, Jason?" I croaked out again.

Our eyes met again and he took a few steps forward, "we need to talk."


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

The five of us sat haphazardly at the front of the shop. Jason, Derek and Bruno took a seat at the stools at the counter, Leon leant up against the small bar fridge near the office, while I sat close to him on top of the counter.

We sat in an awkward silence for a while before Jason finally spoke, "Ok. I'm not gonna beat around the bush. We know about the money. _Everybody_ knows about the money."

"What are you talking about?" I blurted out, trying to act dumb. There was no way news could travel that fast in two days.

Jason stared blankly at me and blew out a frustrated sigh, "you know exactly what I'm talking about. And you guys could be in some serious trouble."

"And what's it to you?" Leon barked suddenly as he leaned back a little bit.

Jason and his boys all looked over at Leon with narrowed eyes. He didn't even flinch. "It's nothing to me. I just thought I should warn you."

I scoffed louder than I had intended to and blushed when eight pairs of eyes turned to face me. "Cut the bullshit, Jason. How much do you want?"

He smirked and leaned forward on his elbows, clasping his hands together. "We help. Then we talk."

I narrowed my eyes at him and shook my head. "No. Fucking. Way. It's none of your business."

"Fine." Jason slammed his hands against the counter and stood. Derek and Bruno followed. "Good luck then," he scowled and stormed out with his two friends close behind.

When the door slammed shut behind them, I dropped my head to my hands and blew out a long sigh. I heard Leon's light footsteps coming towards me before he rest his hands against my thighs. We stayed quiet while we listened to the cars outside start up and quickly speed off. I looked up at Leon and he gave me an apologetic smile as he placed his forehead to mine.

"We have to tell Dom."

Leon nodded slowly before he placed a gentle kiss to my forehead; he took my hand and helped me off the bench before we exited the shop and drove back to the fort.

Back at the house, Leon and I called a meeting and sat everybody down in the living room. We felt bad for not having Jesse there amongst us, but we had to let everybody know what was going on. Once Vince and Mia were filled in on the details, we retold what had happened with Jason; Dom ran a hand over his scalp and looked over at Letty, clenching his jaw.

Letty averted her eyes and took her bottom lip into her mouth nervously.

"Who did you tell?" Dom kept his voice calm, but his eyes were filled with fire as he stared at her. She looked down at the floor and stayed quiet. "Who did you tell, Letty?" His voice rose slightly, but we could see he was trying hard to keep his cool.

Letty mumbled something quietly before she cleared her throat and spoke again, "Edwin. And Hector."

Dom dropped back into the couch and shook his head as he searched for the words to say. Vince and Mia stayed quiet, and the four of us just watched Dom and Letty.

"I'm sorry, Dom. I thought I could trust them—" Letty tried to defend herself, but Dom quickly put his hand up to stop her.

The muscles in his jaw tightened and he sat up again. "You know very well we can't trust them. We can't trust anybody, Let. How could you do this?"

"I don't know." Letty dropped her head and I saw her bite her lip again.

Dom stood and paced the room. His mind ticked and we were all too scared to say anything. "Cass, you think you can talk to Jason? Get some more info out of him?" He looked at me and I was afraid to say no, so I just nodded quietly. "Good."

"I'll go with you," Leon looked over at me, but I kept looking up at Dom.

"No, she has to go on her own. He won't trust her with you there, Le." Dom said forcefully as he continued pacing.

"But, Dom—"

"No buts about it, Le. She's going on her own." Dom cut Leon off and gave him a stern look.

I glanced quickly at Leon from the corner of my eye and saw him narrow his eyes at Dom. He finally blew out a defeated sigh and collapsed back into the pillows.

"Fuck," Dom mumbled before finally walking out of the room. There was a moment's silence before we heard a crash and another loud "fuck!"

Everybody jumped as the back door slammed shut and none of us dared to move until we heard Dom's car start up and drive off. Mia was the first to move; she stood and walked into the kitchen and we heard her picking up the pieces of a glass that Dom had shattered. The boys looked at each other and then at Letty who stood and stormed up the stairs. She slammed her bedroom door as she closed it, causing me to jump again.

Leon placed his hand on my knee and I quickly stood; I could feel his eyes watching me. "I should go see if she's ok." I didn't look at either of the boys as I walked slowly upstairs. I reached her door and took a deep breath as I knocked.

She didn't answer, but I opened the door and walked in anyway. She was lying on her stomach, with her hands under the pillow and staring away from the door at the wall. I closed the door carefully behind me and sat on the bed next to her.

My hand automatically went to the small of her back and I was glad when she didn't pull away.

"I really didn't mean to tell them, Cass." She mumbled through her pillow.

"I know."

"I only went to see Harry for some new parts, and Edwin and Hector happened to be there," she took a jagged breath and dug her face into the pillow more, "they asked me what I'd been up to, and I just blurted it out."

I didn't know what to say so I just stayed quiet and rubbed her back soothingly.

She sniffled and finally turned to look at me; she hadn't been crying, but her eyes were red from fighting back tears. She turned around and sat up, bringing her knees up close to her to rest her chin on.

I smoothed my hand through her hair and smiled softly. She dropped her forehead to her knees and sighed. "This is so fucked up."

I nodded, "yeah. But it'll be fine. We always get through it."

"Dom hates me," she mumbled and let out a groan.

"He'll get over it."

"I don't think he will this time. I royally fucked up." She hugged her knees tighter before grumbling out a string of curses.

Letty finally looked up at me when I didn't respond. I shrugged and looked down at the floor, "I don't know what to say, chica." From the corner of my eye I saw her nod before she lay back down on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

"Look. It will be ok. I promise," I looked her in the eye and assured her. She smiled apologetically with another nod. "For now, I need to go and I need your help." She furrowed her brows curiously and I cringed slightly, "can you keep Leon here – make sure he doesn't follow me while I go see Jason."

Letty cringed as well with a knowing look. "I'll do my best."

"Thanks."

She sat up and hugged me before we both stood and headed back downstairs. Leon and Vince were still in the living room and hadn't moved from their seats, only now they were lost in a conversation of their own. I grabbed my keys from the hook by the door and kissed Letty on the cheek before I grabbed my jacket and wished the boys goodbye and ran out the door.

I heard Letty inside trying to calm somebody down and assumed it was Leon. I got in my car and started it; as I put it in gear, I looked up at the house and saw Leon heading my way. Not giving him a chance to reach me, I quickly sped off; in my rear-view mirror I saw him throw his arms in the air in defeat and look over at Vince and Letty as they joined him on the footpath.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

While blindly searching for my cell on my passenger seat with my hand, I prayed that I could remember Jason's number off the top of my head. Finally finding it, I slid it open and dialed the number slowly, while going through number combinations in my head. I took a chance and pressed dial when I thought I had it and took a sharp breath when it started ringing.

"Yo." The familiar voice came from the other end, and I hadn't realized I had stopped breathing until I tried to speak and couldn't. There was a pause before, "hello? I know somebody's there, I can hear the radio."

I glared at my radio before quickly turning it down. "Jason?"

Another long pause before laughter erupted from the line. I gripped my steering wheel until my knuckles went white.

"Babe. I knew I'd hear from you."

I rolled my eyes, "where are you? We need to talk?"

"Of course we do," he huffed and I could hear some shuffling of papers from his side. "Drop by my place, and we'll talk." I didn't have to see him to know he had a shit-eating grin on his face.

I hung up without another word and drove on auto-pilot to his place. As I pulled up in the driveway, I saw him standing on the porch with his arms crossed and as I had thought, a huge smile on his face. His car was the only one I could see and a huge relief washed over me knowing that I wouldn't have a thousand pairs of eyes glued on me.

I hopped out and locked my car, hesitating before I started heading towards him.

"Long time no see," he said cockily as he opened the front door for me.

I gave him a filthy look as I walked past him; he had recently showered and I could still smell his body wash – it was my favorite and I couldn't help but close my eyes as the smell washed over me. He shut the door behind us and pressed up close to me as he passed me, his hand lingered on the small of my back before he lead me through the house into the kitchen.

I sat on one of the stools and watched at he pulled two Corona's from the fridge and opened them. He placed one on the counter in front of me and took a big sip from his as he leaned his hip against the edge of the granite, staying close to me. Taking the bottle, I gulped a mouthful of liquid and mentally thanked it for being cold as it went down.

Jason stared at me for a long moment then finally smiled – a warm smile, not cocky or arrogant, but a genuine smile. His brown eyes lit up and it was then that the memories of us together filled my head and the reason I had left him had escaped me.

I forced my mind to push everything out and let out a long, tired sigh. "What was all that bullshit about earlier?"

He raised an eyebrow and swallowed some more beer, "it wasn't bullshit. You guys are in some serious shit."

The serious look on his face scared me slightly and I had to look away and focus on something else.

"Cassie, this news has gotten around really quickly. There are people out there that would do anything for that kinda cash – and the coke," he blew out a sigh and shook his head and I knew exactly the extent of what he meant, "and then you got some deep underground shit – people claiming that they're the ones that put it there and wanting it back."

"And what's it matter to you?" I looked up at him angrily.

He put his bottle down and ran both hands over his scalp. "I don't wanna see you get hurt."

"Hmph. That's hard to believe – especially after everything you put me through. Now tell me, why do you wanna help us so bad? What's in it for you?"

He closed his eyes and dropped his head. "I want you back."


End file.
